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^i)vtt Cectures, 

BY Rev. FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D. D., LT>. J). 

Hon. DAVID L. SWAIN, LL. D., and 

Hon. WM. A. GRAHAM, LL. D. 

TO WHICH IS PREFIXED A PRELIMINARY SKETCH OF THE 



BATTILH ©IF f MIS AILAMA^ 



>S^0 



COMPILED BY WILLIAM D. COOKE, A. M: 



jllkgtiate^ bg Saikg aa^ E^g^iag. 



WILLIAM D. COOKE, 

Kin W ¥©BK e 
OEORCE P. PUTNAM & CO. 

IS53. 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1853, by 
WILLIAM D. COOKE, 

la the Clerk's Office of the District, "Qou];! for the District of North Carolina. 

*■ e 



,\N'^C1 



{ 
I 



PRINTED AT THE N. C. INSTITUTIUX / 

FOR THE -^ 

DEAF AND DUMB AND THE BLIND. 



TO 

THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

OF THB 

UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 

THIS VOLUME 

IS RESPECTFULLY INSCRIBED, BY 

BALBIGH, N. C, JULY 4, 1853. 



PREFACE. 



For a number of years past, an unusual de- 
gree of interest has been manifested in various 
quarters, in regard to the early history of North 
Carolina. In former times, her distance from 
the centres of commerce, and the comparatively 
quiet and retiring disposition of her people, 
withdrew her name and character, to some ex- 
tent, from general observation : Little attention 
was paid to her interests, and her primitive glo- 
ry was forgotten in the din and tumult of polit- 
ical agitation. But a change has taken place 
in the direction of the American mind. A 
growing taste for history and antiquities has be- 
come apparent in our literature, and some of 
our ablest men, turning away from the unsatis- 
factory study of present social phenomena, have 
begun to search among the records and tradi- 
tions of the past, for subjects vrorthy of patriotic 
contemplation. 

V No State in our Union can present a wider or 
more diversified field for historical inquiry than 
North CaroHna. On her shores, the first settle- 



VIII PREFACE. 

ment of English colonists in America was es- 
tablished ; within her borders, the most formi- 
dable resistance to British authority, anterior to 
the Revolution, was organized ; by her people, 
the first actual declaration of independence was 
made, and some of the most brilliant and im- 
portant transactions of the revolutionary period 
took place upon her soil. The interesting char- 
acter of these transactions has, at last, begun to 
be appreciated, and several valuable contribu- 
tions towards their history, have been already 
presented to the public. The appearance of the 
present volume is but another manifestation of 
the same prevailing spirit, and will doubtless be 
welcomed by the patriotic reader with the gen- 
erous enthusiasm which has greeted its prede- 
cessors. 

The union in one volume of the lectures deliv- 
ered consecutively by Dr. Hawks, Governor 
Graham, and President Swain, on three differ- 
ent stages in our revolutionary history, was un- 
dertaken by the compiler at the suggestion of 
many gentlemen who had heard or read them, 
and with the full consent and approval of the 
distinguished authors themselves. Their names 
alone would suffice to render any recommenda- 
tion of the work unnecessary. All three of 



PREFACE. IX 



them have enjoyed ample opportnnities of stu- 
dying their subject with advantage, and have 
acquired the confidence of the public by lives 
matured in their several spheres of usefulness. 

That a book of such materials, wrought into 
a popular form by such competent hands, should 
fail to find its way to the homes and hearts of 
the people, especially of the people of North 
Carolina, cannot be a moment supposed. It is 
confidently placed at their disposal, with the 
conviction that it is destined to foster a true, 
patriotic spirit wherever it is read, and thus to 
establish our principles and strengthen our in- 
stitutions. That such may be the result of its 
publication, will be the desire and prayer of all 
who know how to value our national inheri- 
tance. 

HaleigJh^ June., 1853. 



INTRODUCTION. 



To tlie correct understanding of the revolutionary 
history of ITorth Carolina, a knowledge of what is 
usually called, "the war of the Eegulation," is in- 
dispensable. With that as an introduction, and with 
the facts embodied in the three lectures that follow, 
the native of IS'orth Carolina will have' a sketch of the 
revolutionary history of his State. 

We have, therefore, obtained from the Rev. Dr. 
Hawks, the following sketch of the Battle of ^he 

Alamance. 

The sources from w^hich were derived the facts set 
forth in this brief sketch, v/ere Herman Husband's 
small volume on the doings of the Regulators, (of 
which the present writer possessses a perfect copy,) 
Carruther's life of Dr. Caldwell, Mr.'Foote's sketches 
of North Carolina, Jones' Defence, Martin's, so called. 
History of the State, and some personal knowledge 
derived from inquiries made of those among whom 
the " Regulators " lived. Tlie fullest and most satis- 
factory account is in the work of Mr. Carruthers ; and 
Col. Wheeler has also procured some of the documents 
connected with this portion of our history. 




The Regulator Battle GRotNi) 



/ 



Mt 0f i\t %lmntt 



It was in the year lT6-i, that William Trjon, who 
had been trained to arms, became the Governor of 
the province of North Carolina. It was in the same 
year that the British parliament asserted their right 
to tax the American colonies, without their consent ; 
and early in 1765, was passed the memorable Stamp 
Act. From one end of the province to the other, 
meetings of the people were held, and with an una- 
nimity never equaled before or since, they declared 
that they would not submit to the law. In 1766, a 
British sloop-of-war brought over the stamped paper, 
when Tryon found out the character of the people 
with whom he had to deal. They took up arms: 
would not permit a sheet of the paper to be landed, 
and compelled the stamp distributor to take an oath 
that he would not execute his odious office. The 
amazed Governor sought to conciliate the colonists 
by an ostentatious parade of hospitality. He caused 
an ox to be roasted whole, and several barrels of 
beer to be provided as a feast for the common peo- 



14: REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

pie : they attended on his invitation, "but it was to 
throw the nntasted meal into the river, and empty 
the beer on the ground. He writhed under the in- 
sult, and from this hour sought to annoy and distress 
the colony. Fond of military display, and possibly 
with the view of impressing with salutary awe the 
hardy men of the West, he marched from the sea- 
coast with a military company, in a time of profound 
peace, to run, in person, the dividing line between 
the Western settlements, and the hunting gTounds (5f 
the Cherohee Indians. Hundreds of men near the 
spot could have performed the work, at little cost, 
quite as well as he could ; but his love of military- 
display would not thereby have found gratification ; 
so the colony was saddled with the needless expense, 
and His Excellency returned with a new title ; for 
the Cherokees called him " The Great Wolf of North 
Carolina " : Tlie name seems to have been prophetic 
of the future, for a "wolf" he proved. His next ex- 
ploit was to erect and furnish in one of the towns on 
the seaboard at a cost of nearly $100,000, (an immense 
sum for the colony at that day,) a palace which in 
splendor had no equal either in JSTorth or South 
America. There was an iniquity, which Try on found. 
existing when he came to the government, (for it had 
been established by his predecessor,) and lie not only 
continued, but increased it. It was the extortion of. 
illegal fees and taxes by the officials of the govern- 
ment. Tlie law had named the fees to be paid to 
clerks of courts, recorders of deeds, entry takers, and 
surveyors of land, and lawyers for certain specified 



BATTLE OF THE AL/VMANCE. 15 

services. The taxes also were fixed by law. But 
these several officers had been for years in the habit 
of demandinc: two or three times as much as thev 
were entitled to ; and many of the sherifis, wherever 
it could be done, exacted about double the amount of 
lawful taxes. To this state of things, add the fact 
that all ofiices were conferred by the Governor on his 
personal favorites,^ and the additional circumstance 
that the limited use of the press at that day rendered 
it very diflicult for the people to read the laws for 
themselves, and the reader will have before him the 
causes which led to the "Regulation War" of J^orth 
Carolina. 

When the oppressions arising from this state of 
things became no longer endurable, redress was souglit 
at first in a quiet way, by a resort to the courts of law. 
The officers were indicted, and found guilty, but 
the punishment was the nominal one of a penny 
fine. In short, all resorts to the tribunals of the 
country ended in a mockery of justice. The people 
met and remonstrated in vain. In a moment of ap- 
prehension, Tryon would lull them, by promises which 
he never meant to fulfil, into a hope of redress. — 
Scarcely would they disperse before some gross act of 
official imposition, or the seizure and imprisonment of 
some of the most conspicuous among them would 
rouse the jDeople, who to the number of thousands, 
and with arms in their hands, marched to the rescue 
of their companions. Their approach would create a 
panic, and the prisoners would be set at liberty. The 
people would again disperse, for there never lived a 



16 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

set of men who would more quietly or clieerfuU j have 
submitted to the existing laws if righteously adminis- 
tered. Tlie histories of the day have done them great 
injustice : eagerly catching at acts of lawless violence, 
perpetrated by a few, who were not of the Kegula- 
tors, but who gladly sheltered themselves in their ir- 
regularities by assuming the name ; those who have 
written of that time, have denounced this whole bod}^ 
of men as composed of a factious and turbulent mob 
who causelessly disturbed the ]3ublic tranquillity. 
Nothing could be more untrue. Their assemblages 
were orderly, and some evidence of the temper and 
characters of the men may be gathered from the fact, 
that from 'these meetings, by a law of their own, they 
vigorously excluded all intoxicating drinks. We shall 
see presently that many among them were deeply 
conscientious and christian men. I have already men- 
tioned that the public press of that day had an influ- 
ence but limited in extent. As far as it went, how- 
ever, they sought peaceably to use it in setting forth 
their grievances. And here, we digress for a moment 
to say a word of their publications ; for they furnish 
strong and true touches, in the picture of those times. 
The productions, sometimes circulated in MSS., some- 
times in print, betray no proofs of high scholarship, 
and none of the elegance of polished writing ; for 
they were literally what they professed to be, the work 
of the people, and there is a truthful earnestness in 
some of them, more effective than the skill of the 
mere rhetorician. Sometimes they are grave, some- 
times satirical ; sometimes a ballad and sometimes a 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMANCE. 17 

narrative. The rougli poet of tlie period was Rednap 
Howell, who taught the very children to sing in dog- 
gerell, the infamy of the proud officials who were 
trampling on them. He singled out especially two, 
by name Fanning and Frohawk, and a single speci- 
men from many similar ones will suffice : 

" Says Frohawk to Fanning, to tell the plain truth ; 
When I came to this country, I was but a youth. 
My father sent for me : I wa'nt worth a cross, 
And then my first study was stealing a horse. 
I quickly got credit ; and then ran away, 
And hav'nt paid for him to this very day. 

Says Fanning to Frohawk, 'tis folly to lie, 
I rode an old mare that was blind of one eye ; 
Five shillings in money I had in my purse. 
My coat it was patched, but not much the worse ; 
But now we've got rich, and it's very well known, 
That we'll do very well; if they'll let us alone" 

Sometimes a grave irony was made the medium of 
instruction ; and with this is connected a little anec- 
dote in our literary history. I have in my possession 
a small volume put forth by Harmon Husband, a 
quaker of that day, and one of those who used his 
pen most freely ; among its contents are two sermons 
on the nature of asses ; the one founded on the text, 
"Issachar is a strong ass, couching down between 
two burdens — And he saw that rest was good, and the 
land that it was pleasant ; and bowed his shoulder to 
bear, and became a servant to tribute:" the other 
founded on the scripture narrative of Balaam and his 
ass. They hav^e in them many hard hits both against 
tyrannical rulers and those who submit to them ; and 
2 



18 REVOLUTION ART HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

what adds to their interest is, that Benjamin Franklin 
has been supposed to have borne some part in their 
production, as he unquestionably did in other articles 
"which Husband published. Tlie commimication be- 
tween Dr. Franklin and Husband arose, according to 
the tradition of the country, as related by Carruthers, 
from the fact of some distant relationship or family 
connection between them ; for Husband was by birth 
a Pennsylvanian, or of Pennsylvania parents who 
had removed to I^orth Carolina. At any rate a com- 
munication was kept up between them. At the time 
of which we speak, the sagacious mind of Franklin 
probably saw that the coming collision with the moth- 
er country, was a mere question of time, the result 
was inevitable. The western part of K"orth Carolina, 
at that day, derived its supply of necessary commod- 
ities for the few shops established in it, from Phila- 
delphia ; and twice in each year the traders resorted 
to that city to purchase their goods. Among these 
individuals was one, a prudent and discreet man, who 
always carried verbal messages, to and fro, between 
Franklin and Husband, but from the danger of detec- 
tion, no letters were ever sent. Franklin was accus- 
tomed however, to send printed pamphlets to Hus- 
band, which the latter caused to be either copied or 
printed and distributed among the people. From one 
of these entitled " State Affairs," from Franklin's own 
pen, it has been believed Husband concocted these 
sennons on asses. This however is a mistake ; there 
is a volume entitled " Sermons to Asses," the produc- 
tion of an English clergyman of republican tenden- 



BATTLE OF THE ALA]MANCE. 19 

cies, whose name was Murray. This was reprinted 
in Boston, but neither the English nor American 
edition bore the author's name on the title page. In 
"New England many attributed the work to Franklin. 
On a comparison of this work with the publication of 
Husband, it will be seen that the " Sermons to Asses " 
at the end of his book, are, with slight alterations to 
adapt them to the latitude of ISTorth Carolina, copied 
from Murray. "Will the reader allow us to detain him 
with some extracts from these productions. Tliey indi- 
cate great shrewdness and good sense, and I fear are not 
without applicability in some respects to our own 
times : at any rate they will furnish him with materials 
from which his own iliind will form a better picture 
of the times than I can delineate : 

"Jacob is the first that is mentioned in scripture who preached 
to asses ; but many have been thus employed since his time. 
This is a most shameful monosyllable, when applyed to reason- 
able creatures ; — men endowed with reason and understanding^ 
to degenerate so basely ; what a falling off is here ! 

What does these burdens mean, which Issachar couched 
down so decently under ? Civil and religious slavery no 
doubt. Strange, that such a number of Kational creatures 
should bear two such insupportable burdens ! — Ah, I had for- 
got that they were asses ; — for, to be sure, no people of any 

rational spirit could endure such grievous bondage. 

****** 

A strong ass, in the original word, denotes strength, but 
implies leanness. — And truly all those who submit to slavery 
are poor. We have not a word of his motion ; — he was 



20 REVOLUTIONAKY UISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

strong, but not active to assert his rights and privilege's. 

Rest was pleasant to him ; — and thus it happens now, we 
sit still at ease, trusting to the good of the land, and conclud- 
ing, every one, I can live out my time in peace and quiet ; — 
forgetting our posterity, and mourning not for the afflictions 
of Joseph. 

When men thus degenerate, they will always find some 

ready to fix burdens on them ; for slavery don't come in a day, 

it is a work of time to make men perfect Slaves. 

****** 

Issachar stooped down ; he well deserved a heavy burden 

for his meanness ; — it is a just reward ; — for such as do not 

value freedom and liberty, before a little present ease, deserve 

to be slaves. — They are blessings too valuable to be enjoyed 

without care and industry to maintain them. 

****** 

But Italy and Spain are not the only places where people 
believe absurdities ; — in a land where freedom has been the 
privilege and boast of every subject, we may, perhaps, 
find plenty of asses. — You will say, not in America, a land re- 
nowned for all sorts of liberty ; — A nation to which there is 
none equal upon the face of the earth, as we know of. In 
some provinces in America this may have been the case; — but we, 
in North-Carohna, are not free ; — yet to the king, or to the plan 
of our constitution, nothing can be laid that tends to effect our 
Liberties. — But we have sold that liberty which our ancestors 
left us by this constitution to buch men as have not the least 
pretensions to rule over us. 

Are we free while our laws are disapproved of by nine-tenths 
of us ? — Are we free while it is out of our power to obtain one 
law that is our choice ? — Take out our oppressors themselves, 
and many of our laws are disagreeable to the inhabitants to a 
man : And worse than all this, for bad as our laws are, the 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMA:N"CE. 21 

practice of them is worse, and our oppressors have got out of 

reach of ihem. 

****** 

Ye who, like Issachar, for the love of ease, or the gratifica- 
tion of some sordid passion, have sold your liberties, and sub- 
mit to burdens, as unnatural as they are unreasonable, — your 
character is drawn, in the text, to that of asses. — And worse 
than asses you are, who thus give up the cause of your coun- 
try either to civil or religious dominators. 

****** 

Issachar, I wish thy children had all died in the first genera- 
tion ; — for thy offspring is too numerous ; they are in church 
and state ; whoever will attend any place of concourse will 
find many of thy descendants so stupid, that they every day 

bring themselves under burdens they might easily prevent. 
****** 

I shall now consider some grievous oppressions that we 
labor under. 

First^ The Publick taxes is an unequal burden on the poor 
of this province, by reason the poorest man is taxed as high 
as the richest. Allowing the taxes to be all necessary, yet 
there ought to be some regard had to the strength of the 
beast ; for all asses are not equally strong. We ought to be 
taxed according to the profits of each man's estate. And as 
we have no trade to circulate money, this tax ought to be paid 
in country produce. There would be men enough to be found 
to fill all posts of office for a salary paid in produce, as any 
man can afford to officiate in an office for country produce as 
well as to farm or follow any other calling, the chief of which 
bring in nothing else. 

This is a grievous burden on the poor, as mattershave been 
carried on, for money is not to be had : And when a poor 
man's goods is distrained, the practice has been to take double, 



22 EEYOLTJTIONAEY HISTOKY OF N. CAEOLINA. 

treble, yea ten times the value has sometimes been taken 
away. — And if they complain, they are not heard ; if they 
resist, they are belabored like asses. 

Merciful Lord, would any people rise in mobs to disturb a 
peaceable nation if they could help jt ! Who is more ready 
than the poor to venture their lives in time of war for the 
safety of the nation ? nay it is pinching hunger and cold, 
brought on them by abuse of officers, that is the cause. 

A few men may rise in a riot without a C^use ; and disaf- 
fected lords and great men may have such ambitious vie ■ s, 
encouraged by some enemy prince ; — but for the generality of 
the poor of a Province to rise, there must be some cause ; I 
dare say there always is a grievous cause. 

Neither is it any reflection on the king, to say, the poor are 
oppressed ; for he don't make our laws : — 'Tis the subjects 
themselves, like the fish, devouring one another, with this dif- 
ference, we are devoured by law. 

The narrow limits of our inferior court's jurisdiction, and 
likewise of a single magistrate, is a grievous burden on both 
poor and rich ; and more so as we are obliged to fee lawyers ; 
and in their demands they have got above the law, and have 
monopolized the whole power of the courts into their own 
hands. Our burdens exceeds Issachar's ; for truly we may be 
said to labour under three, — the lawyers use us as we do our 
stocks, they kill one here and there, or pluck us well, and then 
let us run a while to feather again. 

We must make these men subject to the laws, or they will 
enslave the whole community. — General and private musters 
are also an unnecessary burden, especially in our large coun- 
ties, the out sides of which have to ride from thirty to fifty 
miles ; and the out sides of a county contain more than the 
heart. Going to one of these musters generally costs a whole 
week's labour. — And on the whole, costs the counties at least 



BATTLE OF THE ALA]VIANCE. 23 

a Thousand Pounds each. A general muster is one week's 
loss in a year, which is one-fiftieth part cf the year. — Four 
private musters one week more, which is one twenty-fifth 
part. — Working on the roads and attending courts, will soon 
reduce it to one-twelfth part of our time. — And of what ser- 
vice is all this cost attending the militia law? It serves to 
bring custom to a few Ordinary-Keepers, and for a day of gai- 
ety and feasting to a few individuals, who have been vain 
enough sometimes to pub lish sucLi a day's diversion in distant 
Gazettes. 

With what indignation must a poor ass read such a para- 
graph of such vain boa ting of such a crowd of poor asses, 
faint with hunger, cold and thirst, laying out two or three 
nights by a fire in the woods, to perform this journey ; de?*' 
tute even of a great coat or a blanket ; ^nd of no use under ihv 
sun but to make a show of grandeur to a few who, perhaps, are 
the most unworthy in the county. 

This excess lia s not been practised perhaps in many coun- 
ties ;— But it is not amiss to check it, lest it should grow, and 
you be tied neck and heels for the least affront, and made to 
ride the wooden mare. — It is enough to make a freeman's flesh 
•creep to road this law ; — which might be more tolerable, were 
the people allowed to chcose their own officers. — It would be 
needless to mention every circumstance of oppression in this» 
which is yet but the civil burden. 

T shall now proceed to the 3d head, to consider ot a meth- 
od to remove these burdens. 

AVhen the time of an election comes on, and those men of 
the world, who rule by wealth, and whose business it is to 
corrupt their feilow subjects, and cheat them by flattery and 
corruption ; out of their liberty come to ask your votes, — do 



24 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

you despise their offers, and say to tliem, Your money perish 
with you. 

Can it be supposed that such men will take care of your 
interest who begin with debauching your morals, and ruining 
your souls by drunkenness ? — Will that man have the least 
regard for your civil interest and property who first attempts 
to ruin your virtue ? — What opinion must they have of such 
people, who, for a few days riot and gluttony will sell their 
liberties, but that they are asses, that want to be watered ? 

While men are thus slaves to their lusts, they will never be 
free. Men that do so easily sell their souls will not value their 
country. — Where there is no virtue, there can be no liberty ; — 
it is all licentiousness. What Issachars are such People who 
gives their votes for a man who neither fears God nor loves 
mankind ! %vho, by the very method that he pursues to obtain 
his election, deserves to forfeit the favour and esteem of all 
lovers of virtue and honesty. Whofii can they blame for 
their oppression but themselves ; their own liavjh =.i.) inake 
the fetters by which they are bound. Those who lay out so 
much money upon an election, has it in their viev, fco r.nake 
you pay for it in the round. 

Secondly, Forever despise that man who has betray'd the 
liberty of his constituants; this will lay a restraint upon the 
venal disposition of such as Incline to sell their country for 
Preferment. It would be a check to hinder them from going 
into the schemes of a Governor. — Never send those who de- 
pend on favour for a living, or on the perplexity of the laws, 
nor any who have ever discovered a want of good principles. 

North-Carolinians, if you remain under these burdens, it 
must be your own faults ; — you will stand recorded for asses 
to all generations if you do not assert your privileges before 
it is too late to recover them. 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMAl^CE. 25 

It is not disloyalty, nor injurious, to give Instructions to the 
candidates you choose, and take their solemn promise and obli- 
gation, that they will follow those instructions. This is far 
more noble than rioting a few days in drunkenness. Assem- 
bly-men are your servants, and it is but reasonable they be 
made accountable to you for their conduct. 

Mark any clerk, lawyer or Scotch merchant, or any sett of 
men, who are connected with- certain companies, callings and 
combinations, whose interests jar with the interest of the pub- 
lick good. — And when they come to solicit you with invi-ations 
to entertainments, &c. shun them as you would the pestilence. 
Send a man who is the choice of the country, and not one who 
sets up himself, and is the choice of a party ; whose interest 
clashes with the good of the publick. Send a christian, or a 
man whom you think in your consciences is a real honest 
good man ; — for this is the christian, let his belief, as to creeds 
and opinions be what it will. 

Beware of being corrupted by flattery, for such men study 
the art of managing those springs of action within us, and 
will easily make us slaves by our own consent, — There is more 
passions than one that these men work upon ; there is drunk- 
enness, love of honour, flattery of great men, love of interest, 
prefjrment, or some worldly advantage. — They, by taking 
hold of these springs with.n us, insensibly lead us into bond- 
age. 

When any man, who has much of this world, so that his 
interest weighs down a great number of his poor neighbors, 
and employs that interest contrary to the principles of virtue 
and honesty, any person of the least discernment may see he 
is a curse to the nation. 

When men's votes is solicited, or over-awed by some supe- 
riors, the election is not free. — Men in power and of large for- 



2G REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

tunes threaten us out of our liberty, by the weight of their 
interest. 

North-Carohnians, Are you sensible what you are doing, 
when, for some small favour, or sordid gratification, you sell 
your votes to such as want to inslave your country ? — you are 
publishing to all the world, that you are asses. — You are des- 
pised already by the sister colonies. — You are hurting your 
trade ; for men of publick generous spirits, who have fortunes 
to proaiote trade, are discouraged from coming among you. 

You are also encouraging your own assembly-men to in- 
slave you ; for when they, who are elected, see that those who 
had a right to elect them had no concern for their true inter- 
est, but that they were elected by chance, or power of their 
own, or some great man's interest, such men will be the more 
ready to vote in the assembly wiLh as much indifference about 
the interest of their constituents as they had in voting them 
in. 

You may always suspect every one who overawes or wants 
to corrupt you ; the same person will load you with burdens. 
You may easily find out who was tools to the governor, and 
who concurred in past assemblies to lay burdens on us, the 
edifice, paying the troops, the associates salaries, &c. Send 
not one of them ever any more ; let them stand as beacons ; 
set a mark on them, that ao'es to come mav hold their memo- 
ries in abhorrence. 

May not Carolina cry and utter her voice, and say, That 
she will have her publick accounts settled ; that she will have 
her lawyers and officers subject to the laws. — That she will 
pay no taxes but what are agreeable to law. — That she will 
pay no officer nor lawyer any more ff»es than the law allows. 
That she will hold conferences to consult her representatives, 
and give them instructions ; and make it a condition of their 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMANCE. 2 



.T 



election, that they assert their privileges in the assembly, and 
cry aloud for appeal of all oppressive laws. 

Finally, My brethren, whenever it is in your power, take 
care to have the house of assembly filled with good honest 
and faithful men; and encourage and instruct them on al^ 
occasions : And be sure to let your elections be no expence to 
them. 

•it !k % % * * 

Balaam, I confess, loved the wages of unrighteousness too 
much ; his conduct with the Almighty seems to have been 
similar to some men who have too strong a desire after drink, 
or to gratify some other lustful passion, who will plead with 
conscience, and contrive a hundred ways to gain its consent. — 
I have heard a drunken man say, he has made excuses in him- 
self to go out with his gun, and kept working all day in his 
mind, till he had got the tippling house between him and 
home, when he has instantly got in a great hurry to get home 
by the dram-shop, and arguing, that now he really needed one 
drami ; — has got so blinded by this time as, like Balaam, no 
more to see the angel that stood in his way. 

We generally get in a hurry of business before we can lose 
siglit or get shut of our guide. — Lo, Balaam gets in great 
haste, was up early, and saddled his ass. 

And no doubt but his heart was full of the hopes of the re- 
wards, full of great expectations, and perhaps was telling over 
in his mind what large sums of money he should bring home 
and how he should be honoured by the piinces of Moab; and 
meditating, may be, what a pious work he would put the mon- 
ey to. — The lord had given him leave to go, but no doubt he 
ought to have kept cool and resigned, and not have got in 
8uch a hurrj^ and filled his mind with such proclamations, 
that he could not see his guide that was to direct his steps. — 
Well, he is so blind, however, that conscience was invisible to 



28 REVOLUTIONARY mSTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

him — when on a sudden, the ass started aside, and crushed his 
foot against the wall. 

This ass seems to resemble the people over whom the proph- 
ets are wont to rule, who never are apt to start aside any more 
than asses, until the madness of the prophets become so visible, 
that forces one now and then to reprove them, who, perhaps, 
never opened their mouths before. 

When the Lord opened the mouth of the ass to speak in 
human stile, one would have thought it would have frightened 
any man almost out of his senses. — But Balaam was not easily 
frightened, but he was for caining and killing her. 

So when any poor ass now-a-days opens her mouth in hu- 
man stile, or by way of teaching and reproving the rulers, 
they use him as Balaam did his ass, cane him with discipline, 
and threaten him with excommunication as the pharisees did 
the man who was born blind. 

And Balaam's ass spoke much like the complaints of an en- 
slaved people. — Am not I thine ass? 

Balaam had his ass saddled and prcpiied for mounting be- 
fore he got on to ride; — so likewise it requires some pains and 
furniture to prepare a people to bear the yoke of slavery. — In 
civil administration, their general cry is to maintain courts of 
justice. — In matters of religious concern, it is necessary to 
have the people well persuaded of the rights and importance 
of the clergy, and the divinity of creeds and canons of church 
es, before they will submit to be mounted and ridden like asses. 

We will now resume our narrative. The lawless 
gang, who tliougli tliev called tliemselves Regulators, 
were really disowned by the body, having committed 
some acts of personal violence on the government of- 
ficers with a w^anton destruction of property, Tryon 



BATTLE OF TIIE ALAMANCE. 29 

resolved to consider the western part of tlie colony as 
in rebellion and to suppress it by military force. It 
was in vain that tlie more moderate and just intreat- 
ed liim to pause before lie slied the blood of these 
honest men, with whom many of the eastern inhabi- 
tants so deeply sympathised, that the militia in some 
instances peremptorily refused to march against their 
countrymen. Tlie Governor was obstinate, however, 
and took up his line of march from the sea-coast to- 
ward the west, collecting troops by the way, until on 
the evening of the 9tli of May, 1771, he found him- 
self encamped on the banks of the little stream, near 
the town of Hillsboro', with some ten or eleven hun- 
dred men ; a portion of this force was cavalry ; beside 
which he had two six pounders, and four small swiv- 
els. Here he obtained certain information which 
showed him that his situation was becoming critical 
and forced him to quicken his movements. He had 
ordered a certain portion of troops from the coast, to 
march westward by a route different from his own, 
and to make a junction with him at a point westward 
of Hillsboro', where he then was. This detachment 
had reached the town of Salisbury on their march to 
effect the contemplated juncture, and there halted 
to receive a supply of powder from Charleston. The 
Regulators, however, intercepted the convoy and de- 
stroyed the powder. Tlie commanding officer of the 
detachment then determined to make the purj)osed 
junction with Tryon's troops at the appointed rendez- 
vous; but the Regulators opposed his progress, en- 
tangled him in a skirmish, surrounded his small de- 



30 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

tacliment, and took many of tliem prisoners. Tlie 
commander with some few escaped to Salisbury. It 
may seem singular that in taking the powd'er and in 
this skirmish, no lives were lost. The reason w^as 
that the men from the east were really more favora- 
ble to the Regulators, than to the government, and 
offered but a seeming resistance. 

]^ews of these matters reached Tryon at Hillsboro' ; 
beside he was informed that the Kegulators w^ere 
gatli^ring in large numbers, and his own men, who 
had no w^ish to kill their foUow-citizens in battle, 
were rapidly deserting his camp. Nothing but a 
bold and expeditious movement could save him. 
Certain defeat awaited him if he remained where he 
was. He immediately, therefore, took up his line of 
march westward, toward the enemy, and on the eve- 
ning of the 14th of May, pitched his camp on the 
banks of the Alamance. Tlius far the ordinary his- 
tories agree ; but the residue of the story is told dif- 
ferently by various writers, and is derived generally 
from the statements of the Governor and his adher- 
ents. But one or two, whose lot it was, to know and 
talk with men of integrity wdio were in the battle of 
Alamance have done justice to the Regulators. I 
shall tell the story according to my belief of the 
truth, after having made personally a survey of the 
ground, and duly w^eighing the testimony on both 
sides. 

As to the Regulators, they were men accustomed 
to the use of the rifle, and by no means deficient in 
courage ; but except in the two particulars of brave- 



BATTLE OF TIIE ALAMANCE. 31 

ry and skill as sliarp-sliooters, tliey liacl none of the 
qualifications of soldiers. They knew nothing of dis- 
cipline, had no commander-in-chief, were not even 
organized and officered in divisions for battle, had no 
cavalry, and many of them had never seen a piece of 
artillery. Two old Scotchmen, who had been pri- 
vates in the British army, were probably the only 
men among them who had ever seen powder burned 
in a battle field. They knew that Try on was coming : 
some among them thought there would be fighting, 
and moulded their bullets ; and then j^lacing in their 
hunting pouches as much powder and lead as they 
usually took on a hunting expedition, with rifle in 
hand, went out to join their countrymen. Others 
again, with no other ammunition than that within 
their guns, went out believing that, on conference, 
matters would be amicably adjusted without blood- 
shed ; while yet a third class actually left their weap- 
ons at home, because they supposed, that being un- 
armed, the Governor would more readilv enter into 
negotiations. But alas ! they little knew the temper 
and disposition of William Try on. 

Tlie nmnber of those present was large, probably 
two thousand ; but of these not more than half were 
armed, and a majority certainly did not expect blood 
would be shed. Tlie general supposition was that 
the display of numbers merely would induce the 
Governor to pause, and enter into negotiations. As 
a proof that these men were not seditious, and had 
no desire beyond that of peaceably obtaining relief 
from oppression, we may refer to the fact that though 



32 REVOLUTION.NJIY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

Tryon readied the Alamance and encamped on it on 
the evening of the 14th, yet on the 15tli, the Regula- 
tors, instead of an immediate attack on him, sent a 
messenger to the Governor, with a petition that he 
would redress their grievances, and desiring his an- 
swer within four hours. He sent back the messenger 
with a promise to return an answer by noon of the 
16th. They believed him, and waited patiently for 
that answer. By break of day on the morning of the 
16th, Tryon marched in perfect silence toward the 
Regulators, leaving his tents standing, and his bag- 
gage wagons with the horses ready harnessed for use, 
in his camp, under the protection of a guard. When 
he came within half a mile of the Regulators, who 
w^ere in one extended line, some with arms and some 
without, and so unsuspicious of an attack that the 
young men in some parts of the line were actually 
wrestling and otherwise amusing themselves ; the 
Governor formed his line of battle in two ranks, with 
the cannon in the centre of the front line. Tliere 
were wise and good men who, though they sympa- 
thised with the Regulators, were not of their number, 
and these too were on the ground, in the hope of 
making peace and preventing bloodshed. Among 
these was the Rev. Dr. Caldwell : many of the Regu- 
lators, young and old, belonged to his spiritual charge. 
On the evening of the 15th, he had an interview with 
Tryon in his camp ; and on the next day he passed, 
to and fro, three several times between the parties, 
and obtained from the Governor a solemn promise 
that he would not fire upon the Regulators, until he 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMANCE. 33 

had ftiirly exhausted negotiation in the effort to ter- 
minate matters by an amicable adjustment. His 
statement of this promise to the Regulators undoubt- 
edly lulled the greater part of them, for a time, into 
a false security. They were not liars themselves, and 
they naturally supposed a royal Governor would tell 
the truth. On the last visit of the worthy clergy- 
man, Tryon, without the slightest attempt at the 
promised negotiation, sent back an answer to the pe- 
tition of the day before : that answer was that he 
would grant them no terms but those of uncondition- 
al submission. With this message Dr. Caldwell was 
permitted to return, and while he was communica- 
ting it an event occurred in Tryon's camp which 
brands him with undying infamy, and brought on 
the battle. Among other peaceful men who passed 
to and fro in the good work of conciliation, was Rob- 
ert Thompson, a man deservedly beloved and respect- 
ed for his irreproachable character. He was without 
arms, and was not one of the Regulators. At all 
events, he was then and there a peace-maker. Soon 
after Dr. Caldwell had left, this man attempted to go 
back to his countrymen, and upon being prevented, 
merely remarked, that " as he had come in peaceably 
he had a right peaceably to return," when Tryon, 
without other provocation, snatched a gun from the 
hands of a soldier near him, and himself deliberately 
shot him, before any battle had commenced. Con- 
scious that he had violated good faith in this murder, 
and apprehensive of consequences, he immediately 
sent out a white flag : many of the Regulators did 
3 



34 EEVOLUTIONAEY HISTORY OF N. CAHOLINA. 

not know what it meant, and tliough told by one of 
the two old Scotch soldiers not to lire on it, were so 
roused by the wanton butchery of Tliompson, and the 
^ross violation of his promise by Tryon, that they 
levelled their rifles and the flag of truce fell. The 
Governor immediately commanded his men to fire. 
They seemed indisposed to obey ; the truth was that 
they did not wish to shed the blood of their fellow- 
citizens. It was a critical moment for the Governor ; 
yielding to a temper which he never had under much 
control, he rose in his stiiTups, and in a voice of min- 
gled rage and desperation he called on them to fire 
upon the Regulators or upon him. Some few ven- 
tured to obey his order to fire, and then the volley 
■came from the line, Dr. Caldwell having barely time 
to escape from between the parties, before the 
discharge. The blood of the Regulators was now 
roused, and men who had come there with peaceful 
intentions, would not stand by, indifterent spectators 
of such a scene. Immediately after the volley, the 
Regulators who had neither discipline nor recognised 
leaders, adopted the Indian mode of warfare, and 
betaking themselves behind the trees, their rifles be- 
gan to tell with deadly efl'ect : they had their enemies 
on the road in the open plain, where they presented 
a fair mark, and so rapid were their discharges, that 
Ti-yon's troops had enough to do in returning their 
fire without making the hazardous attempt to change 
their position. Tlie cannon opened immediately after 
the first fire, but except on the first and second dis^ 
charges, probably with but little efiect, as the Regu- 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMANCE. 35 

lators were protected hj the trees, and evidently had 
the best of the battle. In this state of things, Tryon 
sent out another flag of truce which was shot down 
in utter ignorance of what it meant. It probably was 
the precursor to negotiation, for the Governor found 
that he was likely to lose the field. When the flag- 
fell, the flring commenced again, and the government 
troops unable to withstand the sure rifles of the Reg- 
ulatoi*s, fell back from their position, about a hundred 
yards, leaving their camion unprotected. Lnmedi- 
ately some of the young men rushed forward and 
seized tlie pieces ; but when possessed of them, they 
had no ammunition suited to them, nor did they know 
liow either to work them or spike them; for the 
latter, probably they had no implements prepared : 
but they had driven the enemy fi*om them and they 
were not further used in the battle. No less than 
sixteen men had been killed by one rifleman around 
these cannon. He with three others had taken a po- 
sition near the artillery ; here they were protected by 
a large tree and ledge of rocks. Half the artillery 
was directed against them to dislodge them, but with- 
out eflfect. Pugh, for such was the rifleman's name, 
fired every gun while the other three loaded for him. 
At length they were surrounded, and Pugh was made 
prisoner while the rest escaped. But at last the am- 
munition of the Regulators began to fail, and as this 
happened, they retired until only a small body was 
left. The government troops then advanced to sur- 
round them, but familiar as they were with the coun- 
try, the greater part of them made their escape. 



36 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF IST. CAROLINA. 

Some fifteen or sixteen, liowever, were made prison- 
ers, and so ended the battle of tlie Alamance, in which 
the government troops sustained far more loss of men 
than the Regulators. 

And now, I would that this were all the story. But 
there is that yet to tell, which has caused the name of 
Tryon to be loaded with execrations, and remembered 
with detestation in Korth Carolina. Left on the 
battle ground, and therefore claiming a victory, Tryon 
the next day issued a proclamation offering pardon to 
all, if within five days, they would come into his 
camp, and take the oath of allegiance. Many com- 
plied, for they never intended to disclaim their allegi- 
ance to the crown. But we must particularly call at- 
tention to a part of the oath he administered, because of 
its bearing on the future history of th e State. Tliey 
were sworn, " never to bear arms against the King ; 
but to take up arms for him if calle d upon." 

The reader will see presently the consequence of 
this in Mecklenburg. After he felt secure, this miser- 
able and unprincipled tyrant, made an ostentatious 
parade of himself and his army in the upper towns, 
with the few wretched prisoners he had made, accom- 
panying him in chains to grace his triumph. Pres- 
ently he reached Hillsboro' on his return to the East, 
and here he paused long enough to glut his revenge ; 
for here he tried his prisoners. Before, however, this 
solemn mockery of justice, he had proceeded on 'the 
very evening of the battle, without form of law 
or even trial, to add to the butchery of Tliompson, the 
murder of another victim. This was an unfortunate 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMANCE, 37 

being named Few, Oppression and cruel wrong liad 
deprived tlie poor creature of liis reason. He was a 
carpenter by trade, and owned a small pro]3erty 
v/hicli, with liis parents, brothers and sisters he occu- 
pied. He was not merely, like the rest of his coun- 
trymen, oppressed by the officials of the government, 
but one of Tryon's proud minions had injured him 
more deejDly still, by ruining the woman to whom he 
was betrothed. A modern historian, indeed, in the 
charitable endeavor to palliate, gently insinuates that 
this is but a tradition, and may not be true. Aye, but 
it is one of those traditions which burn themselves in 
upon the recollections of a whole people. The writer 
kas lived on the spot wdiere James Few lived ; he has 
talked with men who w^ere the contemporaries of 
James Few ; and the tradition of his wrongs is spread 
over a large area, and has been preserved by many v 
hundreds. The man was crazed by the occurrence ; 
he brooded over it until he fancied that God had made 
him an avenger of human wrongs, and wrote to one 
of the Kegulators that " he was sent by heaven to 
relieve the world from oppression ; and that he was 
to begin in North Carolina." This paper fell into 
Tryon's hands, and so did the unhappy writer of it ; 
he w^as taken prisoner at the battle, and on the eve- 
ning of the same day, without a trial, William Tryon 
hung this poor victim of insanity, whom even a I^Torth 
American savage would have left unharmed, as a be- 
ing from whom the Great Spirit claimed protection 
from every man. 

But this w^as not all. Twelve other prisoners were 



38 KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

tried at Ilillsboro' on a charge of high treason, and 
six of them were condemned to death. The jjood 
clergyman whom I before mentioned, Dr. Caldwell, 
left his home to testify to their charactei-s, and to in- 
tercede as a minister of mercy in their behalf. He 
failed in his benevolent effort, but he did not fail in 
standing by these poor victims, and in ministering 
spiritual comfort and aid to their souls, until, as to 
them, the scene closed in death. As to Tryon, in the 
whole proceeding, he showed that he had neither the 
generosity of a soldier, the dignity of a gentleman, 
the humanity of a man, nor the feelings of a chris- 
tian. In the language of one of our writers, he " ex- 
erted the whole influence of his character against the 
Kves of these people ; for as soon as he was told that 
an indulgence of one day had been granted by the 
court to two of them to send for witnesses, who actu- 
ally established their innocence and saved their lives, 
he sent one of his aids to the Judges and Attoniey- 
General to acquaint them that he was dissatisfied 
with their inactivity, and threatened to represent them 
unfavorably in England " if they did not proceed with 
more spirit and dispatch." 

On the day of execution he had the whole army 
paraded and under arms. Tlie aiTangement of the 
troops, and all the details of the shocking and sad 
spectacle, were regulated and superintended by him- 
self He even selected the spot for the gallows. — 
"Well might one of North Carolina's best patriots, 
commenting afterward on the transaction, say, that 
" the governors minute and personal attention to 



BATTLE OF TFEE ALAMANCE. 39 

these particulars, left a ridiculous idea of his charac- 
ter behind, bearing a strong resemblance to that of 
an undertaker ^t a funeral." 

But some of these poor victims, humble as they 
were in station, (for not one was a leader among the 
Regulators) were loyal, brave and pious. I once lived 
where the spot on which these men suffered met my 
eye every day ; and many a pilgrimage have I made 
to the place, and there pondered on their fate. It 
was sad, very sad ; but I thought that God who can 
overrule all man's wickedness, even to his own high, 
purposes, had brought good out of this great wrong, 
lie had made the flower of freedom grow out of the 
turf that covered these men's graves ; and from every 
hillock, came a voice to their countrymen which, four 
years afterward they remembered : and the voice said 
"ye see here the tender mercies of an oppressive 
government to your murdered countrymen," and then 
the people said, it were better for them to die like 
men in overthrowmg such a government, than to be 
hung like dogs for €07nplaining of it : and so they 
swore, God being their helper, that they would be 
free : — and they are fkee. 

But before we leave this part of the subject, we 
must tell a story or two connected with the execution 
of these men : it will then be seen how the seeds of 
the after revolution were sown in the hearts of their 
countrymen. It will be remembered that the rifle- 
man Pugh, who in the battle dealt out death so sure- 
ly to the artillerists, was a prisoner. lie was one of 
the victims. When placed under the gallows, he 



40 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

asked permission of the Governor to speak, lie was 
told tliat he might have one half hour for that 
purpose. He was perfectly calm, and even dignified ; 
not a muscle quivered, nor a nerve shook. He be- 
gan by saying that he had long, as he hoped and be- 
lieved, been prepared to meet his God in another 
world, that he was therefore not afraid to die : that 
he had no acknowledgments of wrong to make, no 
pardon to ask for what he had done ; then turning 
to his countrymen, he told them that he was sure his 
blood would be as seed sown on good ground, and«that 
ere long they would see it ]3roduce an hundred fold. He 
then recapitulated briefly the oppressions of the people 
and the causes which had led to the late conflict, assert- 
ed that the Keofulators had taken the life of no man be- 
fore the battle commenced, and that they sought noth- 
ing more than the lawful redress of their grievances. 
He then turned to the governor and charged him with 
having brought an army there to murder the people in- 
stead of taking sides with them, as he should have done, 
against a swarm of dishonest oflicers ; he advised him 
to put away from him his corrupt favorites, and to be 
the friend of the people whom he was sent to govern ; 
and here, said he, (pointing to Fanning,) here is one 
of those favorites, utterly unflt to be in authority : — 
At these words the denounced minion gave the sig- 
nal, and the further fearless denunciation was hushed 
in death before the allotted half hour had expired. 

Another case, that of Messer, was more melancholy 
still. He was active as a regulator, and having been 
taken prisoner was to have been hung the day after 



BATTLE OF THE ALAMANCE. 41 

the battle. Ilis wife having heard of his intended 
fate, early the next morning hastened to her husband 
to see the last of him on earth, and took with her, her 
son a child of ten years old. She threw herself on 
the ground before Tryon and implored him but in 
vain. The j^reparations were almost completed, and 
tlie tatal moment had well nigh come ; the heart 
broken wife was lying on the ground, her face hid- 
den in her hands, her boy w^eeping over her, w^hen 
suddenly the child, leaving his mother, stepped up to 
Tryon and asked him to hang liim^ and let his father 
live. Tryon demanded of the child who had instructed 
him to act as he did. The answer of the boy was " 7io 
hodyP " What," said Tryon, " is \h<6 reason you make 
this request \ " " Because," answered the child with 
tears, '^ if you hang my father, my mother w^ill die, 
and all the children will perish." Even Tryon was 
touched with the earnestness and simplicity of the 
boy, and promised him that his father should not be 
hung on that day. But he hung him afterwards in 
Hillsborough. 

And with the remark that it was this same Tryon 
who was transferred soon after to the colony of Kew 
York, and became Governor there, and who with cir- 
cumstances of wanton cruelty burned Danbury and 
Fairfield ; we leave the subject of the Regulation 
War and the field of Alamance. 



THE 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION 



OF 



INDEPENDENCE, 



A LECTURE. 



BY KEY. FRANCIS L. HAWKS, D. D. LL. D. 



DE L I V E R E D BEFORE THE NEW YORK 

HISTORICAL SOCIETY, AT 

METROPOLITAN HALL, 

DEC. 16, 1852. 



IXTRODUCTIOJi. 



In consenting to tlie preservation of tlie following" 
lecture in a permanent form, the author owes it to 
himself to say, that it was prepared on a very short 
notice, and indeed, in such intervals of leisure as 
could be snatched from the duties of two days only. 
It ^vas not possible, in the delivery of it, to interrupt 
the continuity of the narrative by a reference to au- 
thorities, lie therefore takes this occasion to state the 
sources of his information, and to do justice to those 
who have -written on some of the topics presented in 
the lecture. From the Eev. Mr. Foote's sketches of 
Korth Carolina, and the Eev. Mr. Carruther's life of Di*. 
Caldwell, he gathered the picture of the country and 
its iinhabitants in the opening portion of the lecture. 
To these, however, he added his own personal knowl- 
edge. More than once had he traversed the region 
designated, in its length and breadth ; many of his 
college friends were from this region, and from them, 
even in his boyhood, had he learned the characteristics 
of the people before he visited their country, and an 
intimacy, continued to this day, with some of the lead- 
ing gentlemen of the West, had made him no stran- 
ger to either the homes or the habits of his country- 

(46) 



V/ 



40 INTRODUCTION. 

men, from Ilillsborougli to the mountains of Tennessee. 
Mr. Foote, however, has bestowed great hiLor in his 
researches, and preserved a very large amount of 
information, for which every Carolinian will thank 
him. lie who would have the best picture of the 
** Scotch Irish " pioneers will certainly find it in his 
work, and that of Mr. Carruthers. 

The anecdote of the Alexander iiimily, and that of 
the mother of General Jackson, are both derived 
from Mr. Foote. As to the former of these stories, 
I ought however to add that the descendants of Lord 
Stirling in and near New York, have told me, since 
the lecture was delivered, that Mr. Foote was in er- 
ror in suppovsing his Lordship to be one of the mem- 
bers of the family alluded to in his w^ork. 

As to the principal topic of the lecture '' the Meck- 
lenburg declaration ; " it was by no means a novel 
theme. I had examined and discussfed it in the first 
article of the first number of " the New York Review," 
as far back as the year 1S3G. Tlie authorities used 
were the printed State documents of North Carolina, 
the pamphlet published by order of the legislature to 
preserve the testimony, " Jones' defence," and private 
papers found among the manuscripts of my own an- 
cestors. F. L. II. 
Nen: Yofk, June 1,1853. 











» 



*IIe is a bad man who is ashamed of an honest par- 
-entage, because it was poor and hmnble. He is no 
better who is ashamed -of his country, because its his- 
tory records few or none of tlie bh)ody triumphs of 
timbition, but tells the simple story of a people's un- 
obtrusive progress in civilization and homely comfort. 
I am sorrv for the m-an, who, if his countrvmen be 
frank and honest, does not love his country. The 
Historical Society has placed me beibre you to-night, 
because it has been disappointed in the attendance of 
one who, I doubt not, were he present, would enter- 
tain you more than I fear I shall. But I am here — 
and here to speak for a Society whose chosen pursuit 
is History. It is fit then, methinks, that I should 
seek for ray subject in History. But it is an Ameri- 
can Society. This, then, narrows my range of choice 
•to American history ; and I should but poorly repay 
either the partiality or the expectation which may 

(47) 



48 REVOL[JTIONAKY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

have bronglit some of you here to-night, if I did not 
speak of that part of American liistory which I have 
studied most, and know best. That, tlien, you will 
say, must probably be the history of that part of the 
E-epublicin which you were born and reared. Even 
go — iny theme is Korth Carolina. All I have to tell, 
too, is a very simple story, of some of the incidents 
ill her career. I do not think you all know them, for 
the career of JN'orth Carolina has been singularly un- 
obtrusive, modest and quiet, and her true history yet 
remains to be written ; and I may as well candidly 
confess, that what I am about to tell you, has been 
collected to that end. I hope that my unpretending 
effort may serve to interest you. 

But another motive has prompted m.y selection ; 
there is a moral to my story, which will develop itself 
at the close. I have but selected from certain inci- 
dents in Carolina history, and there are three which 
are memorable : First, It w^as on the shores of JSTorth 
Carolina that the first English colony was planted in 
America : Second, The iirst blood shed in battle with 
the troops of the English Government, in support of 
the principles of the American Revolution, was the 
blood of jS"orth-Carolinians, and the first battle-field 
was on the soil of that State : Third, Tlie first Decla- 
ration of Independence ever promulgated in any of 
these Colonies, came from ^N'orth-Carolinians, more 
than a year before the National Declaration of July 
4, 1776. 

With the first two particulars I have named, I shall 
not trouble you, though the story is one full of sad- 



MECKLENBURG DECLAKATION. 49 

dening interest. It will, I fear, consume too mucli of 
your time before I can dispose of the last only. And 
now, without further preface, I begin my story. 

But correctly to understand that story, it is neces- 
sary you should know something of the country and 
its hardy inhabitants. The passenger who at this 
day travels southwardly over the customary routes, 
sees little of JSTorth Carolina, save her hills of sand, 
and forest of pine. Struck with her seeming poverty, 
he is glad to cross her boundaries, and is apt, in the 
retrospect, to cry, ''All is barren." For nearly one 
hundred miles from her present sea-coast, the land 
has evidently been formed by the retrocession of the 
ocean from its ancient limits, leaving exposed a sandy 
surface, which, in the lapse of time, has now and 
then presented spots of^ fertility, formed mostly on 
her water courses, by the alluvial deposits of the 
rivers. But westward of the ancient boundary of 
the sea, for an extent of more than three hundred 
miles, even to the eastern border of Tennessee, there 
exists a very different region. Commencing with an 
agi*eeable diversity of hill and dale, spread out over 
a fertile soil, and still, in many portions, covered with 
the magnificent old forest, it stretches away to the 
west, its hills gradually swelling more and more into 
mountains, until its remoter portions present, in all 
directions, scenes of wild grandeur and sublimity, 
and you are at last embosomed in a region w^hich has 
been well termed the Switzerland of North America. 

The middle and western parts of North Carolina 
were settled almost entirely from the north of Ire- 
4 



50 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLEtfA. 

land. Tlie emigrants were Presbyterians in religion, 
and belonged to that class usually known as " Scotch- 
Irish." In the reign of James I. of England, the 
Earls of Tyrone and Tryconnell, in the northern part^ 
of Ireland, having conspired against the government 
were obliged to fly from the kingdom. This led to a 
forfeiture of their estates, and 500,000 acres were 
thus escheated to the crown. James filled these es- 
cheated lands with new settlers, derived mostly from 
the Protestants of the west of Scotland. Hence the 
name of " Scotch-Irish." It was from this stock that 
the Carolina immigrants came. They reached the 
place of their settlement by two difiTerent avenues of 
approach ; the one portion came into America by the 
Delaware river, landing at Philadelphia ; the other 
first touched our shores at Charleston, in South Caro- 
lina. These latter struck at once into the fertile for- 
ests of the upper country, and approached their fu- 
ture home from the south ; the others occupied first 
the desirable localities in Pennsylvania, east of the 
Alleghanies, until finding iieed of increased room for 
their numbers, they passed down first into Virginia, 
and then into Carolina, and met the wave of immi- 
gration from the South. Tlie line of their settlements 
across the whole State, from North Carolina to Vir- 
ginia, may readily be traced on the high road leading 
through the villages of Charlotte, Concord, Salisbury, 
Lexington, Greensborough and Milton, to the head- 
waters of the Roanoke. It is somewhat difiicult to 
fix the precise date at which they began to come ; it 
was, however, not very far distant from the year 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 51 

1730, though the ingress did not become rapid before 
1750. There is, however, much less of uncertainty 
in speaking of the features of the country, and the 
character of the people. As to the first, the features 
of the country, they are singularly beautiful. At 
the time of which we speak, its aspect was not pre- 
cisely what it now is ; large prairies, over which wav- 
ed a luxuriant growth of grass, then occupied ground 
on which may now be seen thrifty forests. Tliese 
were between the Yadkin and Catawba rivers, and 
afforded immense grazing grounds to herds of tame 
cattle. The streams were often bordered by the cane- 
brake, within which, the game found food and shel- 
ter ; and by the side of them, or on the edge of the 
prairie, the smoke went up from the rude chimney of 
the pioneer's log cabin. Sometimes the hut lifted its 
humble head from the dale, and, seated on the sun- 
ny side of the hill, surrounded with the evidences of 
culture, it told, in an unpretending way, its little 
story of homely comfort and quiet seclusion. The 
busy wife and rosy-cheeked children were there full 
of life, w^hile the father was on the streams, or over 
the hills, or perchance, up among the far distant 
mountains, providing by the pleasant toil of the hun- 
ter for those wdiom he loved. At first, the log cabins 
which betokened civilization, stood often in solitary 
seclusion. Eight, ten, fifteen miles, were deemed 
distances that constituted quite a near neighborhood ; 
but scattered as w^ere the people, there was an arti- 
ficial feature in the landscape, which showed itself 
from the beginning. If you sought it, in some spot 



52 BEVOLUTIONAEY IIISTOKY OF N. CAKOIJNA. 

most convenient to all, you were sure to find the 
meeting house for the worship of God. It was, of 
course, at iii*st, an humble structure of logs, buried 
in the deep stillness of the forest, where it might be 
overshadowed by the brave old trees ; and near it 
was commonly to be found, in some shaded little dell, 
or bursting from the hillside near the knarled roots 
of some king of the forest that canopied it, the full 
and gushing fountain of water that nature has pro- 
vided. Even to this day, the mouldering ruins and 
foundations of some of these rustic temples remain, 
while near them rise the more imposing and modem 
edifices of brick to supply their places ; and around 
them, protected commonly by a stone wall, are the 
green mounds and hillocks of the graveyards, where 
"the rude forefathers of the hamlet sleep." Tliey 
are preserved from desecration with pious care ; and 
wandering over them, the eye falls on some rudely 
sculptured memorial, which, while it tells the cus- 
tomary tale of sorrow, has doubtless served also, in 
its time, " to teach the rustic moralist how to die." 
But I have much before me, in the story I have to 
tell, and I must now leave the land to speak of the 
people. The most prominent feature in their general 
character was the intensity of their religious feeling. 
Tliey seem to have united the impulsive ardor of the 
L-ish, with the keen and cool intellectual perception 
and shrewdness of the Scotch. Tlie one tempered 
the other ; they were eminently zealous, and at the 
same time eminently practical. Tliey chose to un- 
derstand a subject first, no matter whether it were 



MECKLENBUEa DECLARATION. 53 

religions or civil liberty, and when the mind once 
apprehended what they thought to be true and right, 
they threw themselves into the support of it with 
body and soul. They were as stern enthusiasts as 
th^ old Covenanters, but they knew better the grounds 
of their enthusiasm. 

J^ext, as you might naturally expect from such 
people, they were daringly h^ave^ women as well as 
men. There is an amusing and authentic anecdote 
related of the emigration of a conspicuous family 
from Ireland, which may serve to illustrate this trait. 
The family alluded to, w^as that of Alexander. All 
preparations Avere made for their embarkation to our 
shores. They had suffered oppression, and their min- 
isters in Ireland had been imprisoned and interdicted 
from performing religious ceremonies. On the eve 
of their departure, before trusting themselves to the 
perils of the sea, they sent to Scotland for their old 
minister, under whose teachings they had lived be- 
fore their removal to Ireland, to come and baptize 
their children, and give them his parting benediction. 
The old man came ; they and their effects were all on 
board the vessel, and the day before sailing, a sol- 
emn religious service was held in the ship, at which 
the old minister officiated. At the close, armed men, 
who had been on the watch, came on board, seized 
the minister and lodged him in prison to await furth- 
er punishment. As night approached, the old matron 
of the family summoned around her all the men of 
the Alexander race, old and young, who were on 
board, and thus addressed them: "Men, gang ye 



54: KEVOLUTIONARY IIISTOEY OF N. CAKOLINA. 

awa', tak our minister out o' tlie jail, and tak liim 
wi' us, good soule, to Ameriky." It was enough ; 
the men had never disobeyed her in their lives. Be- 
fore morning, the minister was on board, and the 
vessel was on the seas. Fortunately for the minister, 
he was an old bachelor, and very cheerfully acquiesc- 
ed, probably considering it a leading of Providence ; 
and they all landed here in this our goodly city, and 
one of the descendants of one of the men who thus 
landed was William Alexander, Lord STiELmo, one 
of the Generals in the war of the Revolution. 

Another incident, though of later date, may also 
here be mentioned as illustrative of female heroism 
of the loftiest kind. Among those who formed a 
part of the settlement during the revolutionary strug- 
gle was a poor widow, who having buried her hus- 
band, was left in poverty, w^ith the task upon her 
hands of rearing three sons ; of these, the two eldest, 
ere long, fell in the cause of their country, and she 
struggled on with the youngest as best she could. 
After the fall of Charleston, and the disastrous defeat 
of Col. Buford, of Yirginia, by Tarleton, permission 
was given to some four or five American females to 
carry necessaries and provisions, and administer some 
relief to the prisoners confined on board the prison- 
ship and in the jails of Charleston. Tliis widow was 
one of the volunteers on this errand of mercy. She 
was admitted within the city, and braving the hor- 
rors of pestilence, employed hei-self to the extent of 
her humble means, in alleviating the deplorable suf- 
ferings of her countrymen. She knew what she had 



IklECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 55 

to encounter before slie went ; but, notwithstanding, 
went bravely on. Her message of humanity having 
been fulfilled, she left Charleston on her return ; but, 
alas ! her exposure to the pestilential atmosphere she 
had been obliged to breathe, had planted in her sys- 
tem the seeds of fatal disease, and ere she reached 
her home, she sank under an attack of prison fever, 
a brave martyr to the cause of humanity and patri- 
otism. Tliat dying mother, who now rests in an 
unknown grave, thus left her only son, the sole sur- 
vivor of his family, to the world's charity; but 
little did she dream as death closed her eyes, the 
future of the orphan boy: that son became the 
President of this free Kepublic ; for that widow 
was the mother of Andrew Jackson. It was a- 
mong these people that he learned that love of 
liberty^ which formed a third conspicuous character- 
istic of these brave emigrants. Everything in their 
position conspired to foster this trait of character. 
Tliey were far removed from the settlements on the 
Atlantic, and felt but little either of government 
patronage or power. West of them, and indeed, 
among them, were the savages, while, in the scatter- 
ed settlements, north and south of them, they met 
those who had been trained in the same school as 
themselves. Their country was beautiful, their cli- 
mate salubrious, their physical wants well supplied, 
they roamed at will over the hills and through the 
valleys, with the never failing rifle, and the dog for 
companions ; they breathed the fresh air of God, and 
drank of his living streams of water around them, 



56 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

and walked with elastic and untrammelled step over 
the turf he had made for them ; and bom upon the 
soil, as most of them were at the time of which we 
are about to speak, they felt that it was their country 
and home, and that they were free. No newspaper 
came at that day to tell them what was doing in the 
busy world without ; they, in fact, lived more under 
the paternal direction of their spiritual instructors, 
than under the control of the Colonial Government. 
And these guides were worthy of the place they tilled : 
they were educated men, they established schools for 
their children, they taught the people faithfully, they 
were universally venerated, because they were un- 
spotted in character, their opinions settled what was 
right and wrong, and no men better understood th e 
principles of rational liberty. The people knew but 
little of any portion of the -Colonial- Government, 
save that which was brought to their knowledge by 
the presence of the tax-gatherer ; but they cheerfully 
paid their taxes, (even long after they became unjust 
and oppressive) because they had been taught that 
the support of Government was a duty. When the 
final struggle came, every one of these spiritual 
guides, to a man, was on the side of an oppressed 
people ; some of them bore arms, and their voices 
sent out among these hardy mountaineers, with the 
clear, full swell of a trumpet's tone, the sentiment, 
that the cause of rational freedom was the cause of 
God and humanity. These men were not of my faith, 
but they were my countrymen, and palsied forever 
be my tongue when it refuses to yield a just tribute 



\ 




?^ i > r 









MECKLENBURG DECLAEATION. 57 

to men like tliese, who feared God, and loved their 
country. But I must hasten on to my story, and let 
that exhibit the characteristic traits of these people. 
I must ask you to imagine yourselves up among 
the hills and valleys of which I have been telling 
you, and to fancy yourselv?,s, on a pleasant Spring 
morning of 1775, in the village of Charlotte, in the 
county of Mecklenburg. It is obvious that from 
some cause there has been brought together a large 
assemblage, and that an unusual excitement prevails. 
You are among the same Scotch-Irish of whom I told 
you before. It is a busy scene. In yonder group 
may be observed some of the clergy Avith deep ear- 
nestness speaking to the grair haired men around 
them, who drink in with greedy ears all that is utter- 
ed; while on the outskirts of the circle, the sober 
matrons and the young women stand, hearkening 
with breathless interest to what is passing. Yonder, 
again is another knot, of those who are in middle age, 
and as each one leans on his rifle, or poises it on 
his shoulder, he is taking in wdiat is falling from some 
influential individual, whose dress betokens a position 
in the higher class of that secluded comnnmity. And 
yet again another group appears of young and vigor- 
ous men, whose violent gesticulations, and earnest 
tones among themselves, show that the subject which 
so agitates them is one of no conmion interest. Pres- 
ently, at intervals, they pause, and then may be heard 
human tones as in reading, and then again break 
forth voices from the circle as of angry men. Hard 
by may be seen a man travel-stained, as if from a 



58 REVOLUTION AIIY lirSTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

long journey hastily performed, and at short intervals, 
one and another run to him from out the group, and 
holding with him a short and hurried conversation, 
hasten back again to listen to the reader, who holds, 
as you may see, a printed hand-bill before him. Tliat 
travel-stained man has ridden express, and you begin 
to suspect that the tidings he has brought may have 
occasioned this unusual commotion ; and so they have ; 
for he has brouglit that hand-bill, which contains the 
account of the blood of Massachusetts men shed by 
British soldiers at Concord and Lexington, on the 
19th of April, 1775. They have just received the 
tidino^s on that Thursdav mornino:, Mav 19, 1775 : 
and what you see is the first outbreak of the varied 
emotions produced by the startling intelligence. But 
how came they to be assembled there on that day ? 
To explain that, I must carry you back a little in 
their history. 

Ater the departure of Tryon, these people were 
permitted by his successor, Martin, to enjoy compar- 
ative quiet. They had, however, learned one lesson 
on the field of Alamance, and profited accordingly ; 
they were distrustful, not of themselves, but of the 
Government, and had learned that courage was worth 
twice as much with discipline as it is without it ; and 
they had therefore sought, by military drill, to be 
better fitted for a battle field, should they ever be 
called to enter one. And they were a shrewd people, 
and some of the better informed among them, who 
watched passing events, felt sure that the time for 
battle would come. Upper Carolina had then no 



MECKLKNEURG DECLARATION. 59 

printing press ; no regular mail traversed tlie country 
then, and newspapers were scarce. Still, the educat- 
ed men, of the region contrived to keep themselves 
apprised of events without, and when intelligence of 
interest arrived, it was usually committed to writing, 
and the people supplied the want of the press among 
them by assemblir.g at intervals in Charlotte, where 
these Avritten documents were read to them. Many 
of these papers were prepared by their clergymen, 
and when the people met for w^orship on Sundays, it 
was easy to disseminate tlirough the county intelli- 
gence that news had arrived, the particulars of which 
would be read to the people on a certain day. This 
insured an assemblage. So, also, when there was no 
special news, they were sometimes convened to hear 
the public reading of papers, prepared by the influ- 
ential men among them, in which were set forth the 
prospects before them, and they were instructed to 
prepare for the 2)robable future. Yery many of these 
leaders had been educated at Princeton, and belong- 
ed to the profession of law, medicine and divinity, 
while others were influential from their social posi- 
tion. It was not less providential that the nuisses of 
the people had been taught from childhood to respect 
superior intelligence, and the acknowledged and long 
established characters of the leadino- men of the coun- 
try induced the people readily to follow the sugges- 
tions of their judgments. 

These circumstances had, therefore, led to frequent 
assemblages in Charlotte, prior to the 19th of May, 
1775, to hear the news, and join in the discussions of 



GO REVOLUTION A liY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

the period. As matters approached a crisis, it was 
determined that Col. Thomas Folk, a man of worth 
and influence, and extensively known and esteemed 
through all that country, should be empowered to 
call a formal Convention whenever it should be ad- 
visable. Tliis convention was to be composed of two 
representatives from each militia company district, 
chosen by the people themselves. A recent attempt 
by the Governor to prevent the meeting of the Pro- 
vincial Congress, and a dissolution by him of the 
House of Assembly, after a session of four days only, 
before any important business had been transacted — 
together with the state of affairs both in England and 
some of the other Colonies — induced Col. Polk to 
call the Convention. Such a call was sure to bring 
together, not merely the selected delegates, but the 
whole county ; and this explains the presence of the 
excited multitude in Charlotte, on the 19th of May, 
1775, of which I have made you imaginary spec- 
tators. 

The convention proper consisted of between twen- 
ty and thirty members, one of whom was a clergy- 
man, many others j>rofessional men, and nearly one- 
half conspicuous for their exemplary and consistent 
lives as christians. The convention (or to speak more 
correctly, the whole assemblage, for such was the 
absorbing interest of the occasion, that the speeches 
made were delivered at once to both convention and 
people,) heard addresses from Ivev. IIezekiaii Jones, 
a highly accomplished scholar, and William Kennon, 
Esq., a lawyer of distinction and deserved influence ; 



MECKLEXBUEG DECLARATION. 61 

SO that the tliree learned professions combined tlieir 
power to set the revohitioiiary ball in motion. They 
did not, according to the testimony of eye witnesses, 
appeal to the passions or seek to stir np the resent- 
ment of the people ; they spoke to their reasons ; they 
set before them plainly the causes which were at the 
foundation of the contest with the mother country, 
and the consequences to be apprehended, should the 
people fail to make a firm resistance to the right claim- 
ed of taxing the colonies and regulating their inter- 
nal policy, without allowing them to be heard. Into 
the midst of this assemblage came the messenger, 
breathless with haste, bearing the tidings from Mas- 
sachusetts. Tlie effect was that of fire thrown into 
gun-powder. A shout Vv'ent up from the multitude, 
"Let us be independent! Let us declare our inde- 
pendence, and defend it with our lives and fortunes." 
Tlie convention, I should have mentioned, had duly 
organized by choosing AbraHx^m Alexander tlieir 
chairman, and John McKnitt Alexander and Dr. 
Brevard their secretaries. This body immediately 
appointed the three gentlemen who had addressed 
them, Brevard, Kennon and Balcii, a conmiittee of 
their body to prepare suitable resolutions. And here 
it is to be noted that Dr. Brevard, whose quick and 
sagacious mind seems to have anticipated events, had 
himself prepared some days before, certain resolu- 
tions of independence and had read them to his 
friends ; they were now read to the assemblage, and 
were referred by the assemblage to the committee ; 
and these I apprehended to be the resolutions pub- 



62 KEVOLUTIONARY inSTOKT OF X. CAROLINA. 

lisliecl by Martin in liis history of I^orth Carolina, as 
those wliich were finally adopted. With the excep- 
tion of a short clause referring to tlie battle of Lex- 
ington, the news of which, had just reached them, I 
believe them to be the original resolutions which Dr. 
Brevard had privately prepared before the meeting, 
and wliich formed the basis of those adopted. It has 
been said that they differ "materially'' from those 
adopted ; a minute comparison of them will show that 
this is an entire mistake ; the diiferences are little 
more than verbal and slight, with the occasional in- 
troduction merely of a short recital by way of pre- 
amble, or of a phrase making the meaning more ex- 
plicit ; but the number of those touching the main 
subject is the same; the topics treated in each resolu- 
tion are precisel}^ the same, and they occur in the 
same order, and in all really important particulars in 
precisely the same words. Tlie one wdll, on examin- 
ation, appear to be a simple emendation and slight 
enlargement of the other, not in any particular alter- 
ing the sense and meaning of a single resolution. 
Judge Martin obtained them in manuscript, from the 
western part of Xorth Carolina, and procured them 
as he did most of his other materials, before the year 
1800. Not long after that period, he removed from 
the State, first to Mississippi and afterwards to Louis- 
iana. I knew him intimatelv, and had known him 
from my childhood. I conversed with him touching 
this and other events in our history ; for, partly at 
his suggestion, I had undertaken to prepare a history 
of North Carolina myself. Many of his original ma- 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 63 

terials had been lost, for in tlie latter years of liis life 
he was blind. His book, as he stated, consisted rather 
of a historical memoranda, chronologically arranged, 
than of a well digested and continuous narrative ; 
but he said he had inserted, as he believed, nothing 
for which he had not collected some authoritv. Tlie 
only mistake he made on this subject, was, in suppos- 
ing his copy of these resolutions to be those which 
were adopted, when they were, as I believe. Dr. 
Brevard's first private draft of them. 

Kow, to resume our story : Tlie committee had re- 
tired to perform their duty ; the convention remain- 
ing in session, heard avidresses from various individ- 
uals. And now — I speak on the testimony of an eye- 
witness — occurred an event illustrative of the scru- 
pulously conscientous character of these people. You 
must know, that after the battle of Alamance, Tryon 
exacted of those who had been Regulars, and indeed, 
of others also, an oath binding them '^ never to bear 
arms against the King, but to take up arms for him, 
if called upon." In that convention there were men 
who had taken that oath, and it weighed upon their 
consciences. One of the committee, a man who deep- 
ly sympathized with the general sentiment, and who, 
up to that time, had sat silent in the struggle of his 
feelings — rose and asked of the chairman this ques- 
tion : " If we resolve on Independence, how shall we 
be absolved from the obligations we took four years 
ago, not to bear arms against King George HI ? How 
shall we clear our consciences, after taking that oath ?" 
Now, this man was not influenced by fear, or want 



6i REVOLUTIOXAKY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

of patriotism, for lie afterwards proved himself to be 
a true friend to the cause of his country ; but he 
thought that his Bible had taught him tliat God's 
blessing was promised to the man v/ho, though " he 
swearcth to his own hurt, changeth not." The effect 
of this question was startling ; many, who in their 
excitement, had forgotten, for the moment, Alamance, 
Try on and their oath, now showed, by their manner, 
that the speaker had touched a chord, the vibrations 
of which, were felt in many a bosom there. It was 
necessar}^ that an answer should be given, and given 
at once, or no resolutions of Independence were like- 
ly to be adopted — at least, on that occasion. Some 
cried out that it was " nonsense ;" these were the hot- 
headed and impetuous. Others, more cool and 
thoughtful, remarked that allegiance and protection 
were reciprocal ; that when the King declared a peo- 
ple out of his protection, their allegiance ceased ; 
that their oath was binding only while the King pre- 
served to tliem the enjoyment of such rights as they 
possessed when they took the oath ; and as he had 
formally pronounced them out of his protection, their 
condition was changed by him, without their consent ; 
and, consequently, the oath was not binding. At 
last, one man simplified the whole subject by a fa- 
miliar illustration. After stating that no such oath 
was ever absolute, but always conditional, he point- 
ed to one of the trees near, which was just putting 
forth its leaves, and said : *' If I swear to do anything 
as lone: as the leaves continue on that tree, I am 
bound to do it ixs long the leaves are there ; but when- 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 65 

ever the leaves fall, the oath, of course, is at an end, 
and I may then do as I please." The illustration was 
sufficient, for all the convention agreed that it was 
exactly applicable ; and so they gladly lifted from 
their consciences the weight of Tryon's oath. 

The convention then proceeded to enact certain 
regulations and by-laws, extending their session to 
midnight or later, sitting in the Court House, says 
one of them, " neither sleepy, hungry or fatigued." 
The committee, with the resolutions on Independence, 
came in, and these with the by-laws and regulations, 
were taken up by the convention. One Secretary 
read the resolutions, the other the by-laws. All was 
silent as death. The chairman rose. To these are 
you all agreed ? said he, when, from every voice there, 
went up for a response, Aye. It was then determined 
that the convention should adjourn the next day, and 
that at noon w^hat they had determined on should be 
read to the assembled people. The 20th of May 
dawned on them brightly ; the people of Mecklen- 
burg, men, women and children were there. They 
were told to assemble around the Court House door 
to hear what their representatives had done. At 
noon, Col. Thomas Polk stood above them on the 
steps of the building, and read to them these words, 
and that you may judge for yourselves how far they 
varied ' materially ' from wdiat Martin has published, 
and what, with the single exception of the reference 
^o the battle of Lexington, I believe to be Dr. Bre- 
vard's original draft, I shall read them together. 



66 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

EESOLITTIONS, EESOLUTIONS, 

READ BY COL. POLK. AS PUBLISHED BY MARTIN. 

Resolved^ That whosoev- Resolved^ That whoso 
er directly or indirectly a- ever directly or indirectly 
betted, or in any way, form abets, or in any way, form 
or manner, countenanced or manner, countenances 
the unchartered and dang- the invasion of our rights, 
erous invasion of our rights, as attempted by the Par- 
as claimed by Great Brit- liament of Great Britain, 
ain, is an enemy to this is an enemy to this country, 
country, to America, and to America, and the rights 
to the inherent and inali- of man. 
enable rights of man. 

Resolved^ That we, the Resolved^ That we, the 
citizens of Mecklenburg citizens of Mecklenburg 
county, do hereby dissolve county, do hereby dissolve 
the political b^nds which the political b^nds which 
have connected us to the have connected us with 
mother country, and here- the mother country, and 
by absolve ourselves from absolve ourselves from all 
all allegiance to the Brit- allegiance to the British 
ish crown, and abjure all Crown, abjuring all polit- 
political connection, con- ical connexion with a na- 
tract, or association, with tion that has wantonly 
that nation, who have wan- trampled on our rights and 
tonly trampled on our liberties, and inhumanly 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 6T 

rights and liberties, and slied the innocent blood of 
inhumanly shed the blood Americans at Lexington, 
of American patriots at 
Lexington. 

Resolved^ That we do Resolved, That we do 
hereby declare ourselves a hereby declare ourselves a 
free and independent peo- free and independent peo- 
ple, are, and of right ought pie ; that we are, and of 
to be, a sovereign and self- right ought to be, a sover- 
governing association, un- ign and self-governing peo- 
der the control of no pow- pie, under the power of 
er other than that of our God and the general Con- 
God and the general gov- gross ; to the maintenance 
ernment of the Congress ; of which independence, we 
to the maintenance of solemnly pledge to each 
which independence, we other our mutual co-oper- 
solemnly pledge to each ation, our lives, our for- 
other our mutual co-oper- tunes, and our most sacred 
ation, our lives, our for- honor, 
tunes, and our most sacred 
honor. 

Resolved, That as we Resolved, That we here- 
now acknowledge the ex- by order and adopt, as rules 
istence and control of no of conduct, all and each of 
law or legal officer, civil our former laws, and the 
or military, within this crown of Great Britain can- 



C8 REVOLrTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

county, we do hereby or- not be considered bereaf- 
dain and adopt, as a rule ter as holding any rights, 
of life, all and every of our privileges or immunities a- 
foriner laws, — wherein, ne- mong us. 
vertheless, the crown of 
Great Britain never can 
be considered as holding 
rights, privileges, immuni- 
ties or authorities therein. 

Resolved, That it is fur- Besolved, That all offi- 
ther decreed, that all, each cers, both civil and milita- 
and every military officer ry, in this county, be enti- 
in this county, is hereby tied to exercise the same 
reinstated in his former powers and authorities as 
command and authority, heretofore : that every 
he acting conformably to member of this delegation 
these regulations. And shall henceforth be a civil 
that every member present, officer, and exercise the 
of this delegation, shall powers of a Justice of the 
henceforth be a civil officer. Peace, issue process, hear 
viz: a Justice of the Peace, and determine controver- 
in the character of a "CoTw- sies, according to law, pre- 
mittee-man,^^ to issue pro- serve peace union and liar- 
cess, hear and determine mony in the country, and 
all matters of contro- use every exertion to 
versy, according to said a- spread the love of liberty, 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 69 

dopted laws, and to pre- and of countiy, until a 
serve peace, union, and more general and better 
harmony in said county ; organized system of Gov- 
and to use every exertion to ernment be established, 
spread the love of coun- 
try and fire of freedom 
throughout America, until 
a more general and organiz- 
ed Government be estab- 
lished in this province. 

Resolved^ That a copy of 
these resolutions be trans- 
mitted, by expres , to the 
Continental CongTcss as- 
sembled in Philadelphia, 
to be laid before that body. 

During the reading, all was death-like stillness, 
every eye was fixed on the tall form, every ear open 
to the full, deep-toned voice of Col. Polk ; when he 
closed, all drew a long breath ; each man looked in 
his neighbor's eyes and saw the fire gleaming there. 
A voice from the multitude called out ^' three 
cheers," and then, from man, w^oman and child, 
there w^ent up such a shout as v^as never before 
heard in Mecklenburg. I tell the story as it comes 
from honorable men who were there. The deed was 
done : these men had pledged all they had — lives, * 



70 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

fortunes, honor ; and, true as steel, from that hour to 
this, they have never shrunk from meeting that 
pledge. And this was the first public declaration of 
independence in the British Colonies. Tlie people 
went back to their homes and avocations, taught by 
their leaders to expect trouble, and to be ready to 
answer their country's summons at a moment's warn- 
ing. But the Convention continued their meetings, 
for military arrangements had to be made, and a 
temporary government foniied. On the 30th of 
May, 1775, they set forth a document, which some 
have supposed to be their Declaration of Independ- 
ence. It is a mistake, as I think I shall presently 
prove, if faith may be given to testimony. But it is, 
in truth, of little moment, inasmuch as in either case, 
whether they declared themselves independent ten 
days sooner or ten days later in May, 1775, they are 
at any rate anterior to the National Declaration of 
July 4, 1776, by more than a year. Tlie document 
to which I allude, is as follows : 

'' Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, May 30, 1775. 
This day the committee of the county met and passed 
the following resolves : 

Whereas, by an address presented to His Majesty 
by both Houses of Parliament, in February last, the 
American Colonies are declared to be in a state of 
actual rebellion, we conceive that all laws and com- 
missions confirmed by or derived from the authority 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 71 

of the King and Parliament, are annulled and vacated, 
and the former civil constitution of these Colonies 
for the present wholly suspended : To provide in 
some degree for the exigencies of this county in the 
present alarming period, we deem it proper and ne- 
cessary to pass the following resolves, viz :" 

I. That all commissions, civil and military, hereto- 
fore granted by the crown to be exercised in these 
colonies, are null and void, and the Constitution of 
each particular colony wholly suspended. 

II. That the Provincial Congress of each province, 
under the direction of the great Continental Con- 
gress, is invested with all legislative and executive 
powers within their respective provinces, and that 
no other legislative or executive power does or can 
exist at this time in any of these colonies. 

III. As all former laws are now suspended in this 
province, and the Congress has not yet provided 
others, we judge it necessary for the better preserva- 
tion of good order, to form certain rules and regula- 
tions for the internal government of this county, until 
laws shall be provided for us by the Congress. 

TV. That the inhabitants of this county do meet on 
a certain day appointed by the committee, and, hav- 
ing formed themselves into nine companies (to wit : 
eight for the county, and one for the town), do choose 



72 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

a colonel and otlier military officers, who shall hold 
and exercise their several powers by virtue of the 
choice, and independent of the crown of Great Brit- 
ain, and former Constitution of this province. 

V. That for the better preservation of the peace 
and administration of justice, each of those compa- 
nies do choose from their own body two discreet free- 
holders, who shall be empowered each by himself, 
and singly, to decide and determine all matters of 
controversy arising within said company, under the 
sum of twenty shillings, and jointly and together all 
controversies under the sum of forty shillings, yet so 
as their decisions may admit of appeal to the conven- 
tion of the selectmen of the county, and also that any 
one of these men shall have power to examine and 
commit to confinement pei'sons accused of petit lar- 
ceny. 

YI. Tliat those two select men thus chosen do 
jointly and together choose from the body of their 
particular company two persons to act as constables, 
who may assist them in the execution of their office. 

Yn. That upon the complaint of any persons to 
either of these selectmen, he do issue his warrant 
directed to the constable, commanding him to bring 
the aggressor before him to answer said complaint. 

Yin. Tliat these eighteen selectmen thus ap- 



MECKI.ENBIIRG DECLARATION. 73 

pointed do meet every tliird Tlmrsday in January, 
April, July, and October, at the court-liouse in Char- 
lotte, to hear and determine all matters of controver- 
sy for sums exceeding forty shillings, also appeals ; 
and in case of felony to commit the persons convicted 
thereof to close confinement until the Provincial Con- 
gress shall provide and establish laws and modes of 
proceeding in all such cases. 

IX. That these eighteen selectmen thus convened 
do choose a clerk, to record the transactions of said 
convention, and that said clerk, upon the application 
of any person or persons aggrieved, do issue his war- 
rant to any of the constables of the company to 
which the offender belongs, directing said constable 
to summon and w^arn said offender to appear before 
said convention at their next sitting, to answer the 
aforesaid complaint. 

X. That any person making complaint, upon oath 
to the clerk, or any menber of the convention, that 
he has reason to suspect that any person or persons 
indebted to him in a sum above forty shillings intend 
clandestinely to withdraw from the county without 
paying the debt, the clerk or such member shall issue 
his warrant to the constable, commanding him to take 
said person or persons into safe custody until the next 
sitting of the convention. 



ii KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

XI. That when a debtor for a sum above forty 
shillings shall abscond and leave the county, the war- 
rant granted as aforesaid shall extend to any goods or 
chattels of said debtor as may be found, and such 
goods or chattels be seized and held in custody by 
the constable for the space of thirty days, in which 
time, if the debtor fail to return and discharge the 
debt, the' constable shall return the warrant to one of 
the selectmen of the company, where the goods are 
found, who shall issue orders to the constable to sell 
such a part of said goods as shall amount to the sum 
due. 

That when the debt exceeds forty shilling's, the re- 
turn shall be made to the convention, who shall issue 
orders for sale. 

XII. That all receivers and collectors of quit-rents, 
public and county taxes, do pay the same into the 
hands of the chairman of this committee, to be by 
them disbursed as the public exigencies may require, 
and that such receivers and collectors proceed no 
further in their office until they be approved of by, 
and have given to this committee good and sufficient 
security for a faithful return of such moneys when 
collected. 

Xni. That the committee be accountable to the 
county for the application of all moneys received 
from such public officers. 



MECKLENBUKG DECLARATION. 75 

XIY. Tliat all these officers hold their commissions 
during the pleasm'e of their several constituents. 

XY. That this committee will sustain all damages 
to all or any of their officers thus appointed, and 
thus acting, on account of their obedience and con- 
formity to these rules. 

XYI. That ickatever i:eTson shall hereafter recewe 
a cormnission from the (yrown^ or attempt to exercise 
any sueh coDimission heretofore received^ shall he deem- 
ed an enemy to his country y and upon confirmation 
being made to the captain of the company in which 
he resides, the said company shall cause him to be 
apprehended and conveyed before two selectmen, 
who, upon proof of the fact, shall commit said offen- 
der to safe custody, until the next sitting of the com- 
mittee, who shall deal with him as prudence may 
dh'ect. 

XYII. That any person refusing to yield obedience 
to the above rules shall be considered equally crimi- 
nal, and liable to the same punishment as the offen- 
ders above last mentioned. 

XYIII. That these resolves be in full force and 
virtue until instructions from the Provincial Congress 
regulating the jurisprudence of the province shall 
provide otherwise, or the legislative body of Great 
Britain resign its unjust and arbitrary pretensions 
with respect to America. 



76 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

XIX. That the eight militia companies in this coun- 
ty provide themselves with proj)er arms and accou- 
trements, and hold themseh^s in readiness to exe- 
cute the commands and directions of the General 
Congress of this province and this committee. 

XX. That the committee appoint Colonel Thomas 
Polk and Dr. Joseph Kennedy to purchase three 
hundred pounds of powder, six hundred pounds of 
lead, and one thousand flints, for the use of the mil- 
itia of this county, and deposit the same in such 
place as the committee may hereafter direct. 

Signed by order of the Committee. 

Epiiraim Brevard, Clerh of the Corarfiitteer 

Of these resolutions it is necessary to advert to but 
a small part. Tlie first declares all commissions grant- 
ed by the crown to be null and void, and that the con- 
stitution of each colony is suspended ; the second de- 
clares that the legislative and executive power in each 
colony belongs solely to its Provincial Congress ; the 
third declares that as the Congress in ]^orth Carolina 
liad not yet provided laws, the Committee have formed 
and set forth these, " for (say they) the internal Gov- 
ernment of this county," until the Provincial Congress 
shall provide laws. Then from the 4th to the 16th in- 
clusive, the resolutions provide first for an organization 
of the military of the county, and secondly, for a 
choice by the men in each military company of two 
freeholders, and these freeholders are constituted into 



MECKLENEUECr DECLAKATION. 77 

certain temporary Courts, for the recovery of debts, 
&c. ; provision is made for the payment of taxes by 
the collectors of the Committee of the Convention, 
instead of into the King's coffers ; and, in short, they 
all are mere municipal regulations, intended, as they 
expressly state, simply " for the better preservation 
of good order in the county." The remaining five 
resolutions, all but one, relate to the military, pro- 
hibiting, however, in them, generally, the taking of 
any commission from the crown, or acting under any 
already conferred ; and the other resolution merely 
declares these regulations to be in force till the Pro- 
vincial Congress acts. This is the whole document 
signed by the Secretary of the Convention, and, as it 
shows upon its face, is the necessary consequence of a 
previous Declaration of Independence and dissolu- 
tion of connection with the parent country ; but will 
scarcely pass for a Declaration of Independence itself; 
and certain it is, that among the good people of 
Mecklenburg themselves, where this document is 
very well known, it w^as not deemed the Declaration 
of Independence made in May, 1775, by their fath- 
ers ; but more of this presently. 

We now resume our narrative. Early in June, by 
means of funds raised by private subscription a spe- 
cial messenger was sent from Mecklenburg to the 
Continental Congress, then sitting in Philadelphia, 
with instructions to deliver both the documents, the 
declaration of the 20th, and the resolutions of the 
30th of May, to the delegates there from North Ca- 
rolina ; and also with instructions, through the medi- 



V 



78 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

um of these delegates, and by other means to do 
what he could to have the proceedings in Mecklen- 
burg sanctioned by the Continental Congress. He 
faithfully executed his commission in the month of 
June, 1775. On his return he brought back a letter 
signed by the then North Carolina delegates in the 
Continental Congress, complimentary of the zeal of 
the people of Mecklenburg, in the common cause, 
and recommending to them perseverance, order and 
energy, accompanied with the statement, that ere 
long their example w^ould be followed by other colo- 
nies. The messenger also stated that the proceedings 
in Mecklenburg were individually approved by many 
members with whom he conversed, but that the ge- 
neral opinion was, that it would be premature to lay 
them before the house. And so, perhaps, it would 
have been then, for Congress was not ready for the 
bold step afterward taken on the 4th of July, 1776, 
of declaring the country independent. Not a single 
Province had then by its Congress hinted at indepen- 
dence, though probably most of them looked forward 
to it ; but the time had not come ; neither arms, am- 
munition, officers, or army, were at hand to sustain a 
declaration of independence. It w^as not until the 
slauerhter of our countrymen at Lexincrton had com- 
polled o\ir fathers to iight. that we began even to have 
an army ; and it was not until they had been in the 
field for a year, and gained some confidence in their 
strength and skill, that they dared to declare them- 
selves independent. Even the Provincial Congress 
of North Carolina, containing some of the very men 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 79 

wlio signed the Mecklenburg declaration, could not 
in 1Y75, be brought to the point of urging the Conti- 
nental Congress to declare independence, though all 
wished it. It would have been, as they supposed, 
indiscreet and injudicious, they meant surely to pluck 
the pear at last, but they meant also to wait until it 
was ripe. And to the eye of the Provincial Congress 
of Xorth Carolina, perpetually quickened in vision 
by the aid of their Mecklenburg brethren, the fruit 
did ripen before its maturity was visible to any one 
else ; for theirs was the first Provincial Congress that 
dared to recommend to the Continental body to de- 
clare the country independent. It was on the 12th 
of April, 1776, that the true Provincial Congress of 
Korth Carolina unanimously adopted a resolution in 
these words : 

" Besolved, That the delegates for this colony, in the 
Continental Congress, be empowered to concur with 
the delegates of the other colonies, in declaring Inde- 
pendence^ and forming foreign alliances, reserving to 
this colony the sole and exclusive right of forming a 
Constitution and Laws for this colony, and of ap- 
pointing delegates from time to time (under the direc- 
tion of a general representative thereof,) to meet the 
delegates of the other colonies. " 

Tliis, we repeat, is the first open and public decla- 
ration for independence, by the proper authority of 
any one of the colonies, that can be found on record. 



\y 



80 REVOLUTIONAKT IIISTOKY OF N. CAROLINA. 

It preceded tlie JSTational Declaration of Independ- 
ence nearly three moiitlis, and is one month older 
than the action of the Virginia Provincial Congress, 
recommending a JS^ational Declaration of Indej)end- 
ence. And now a few words for the correction of an 
historical error, in which Xorth Carolina has some 
little interest. I have already told you that some 
supposed the document of May 30, 1775, to be the 
Mecklenburg Declaration of Indiypendence^ and, in- 
deed, such a statement has been published as history. 
It is not that declaration ; but it is an authentic do- 
cument, founded on that declaration, and meant to 
carry out its principles into action. Certain facts 
connected with this matter are undeniable, because 
they are sustained by the oaths of most respectable 
witnesses, taken by order of the State of North Caro- 
lina, and deposited in her office of State; and here 
p-ive me leave to add, that to these oaths I have re- 
sorted primarily for testimony. 

First, then, no less than seven witnesses of most 
unexceptionable character swear positively that there 
was a meeting of the people of Mecklenburg at Char- 
lotte, on the 19th and 20th days of May, 1775, that 
certain resolutions distinctly declaring independence 
of Great Britain were then and there prepared by a 
committee, read publicly to the people by Col. Thom- 
as Polk, and adopted by acclamation ; that they were 
present and took part in the proceedings themselves, 
and that John Mclvnitt Alexander was a Secretary 
of the meeting. These seven swear positively to the 
date, the 19th and 20th days of May, 1775. In ad- 



MECKLENBUEG DECLARATION. 81 

dition, seven others, equally above suspicion, swear 
that they were present at precisely such a meeting as 
that described above. One of them also swears that 
he is the last surviving member of the Convention by 
whose order the resolutions were drawn. His lan^ 
guage is, ''When the members met, and were per- 
fectly organized for business, a motion was made to 
decla/re ourselves independent of the Crown of Great 
Britain.'''^ Mark the language ; it was not to frame 
regulations for the preservation of good order in the 
county. He then proceeds, " Dr. Ephraim Brevard 
was then appointed to give us a sketch of the Dedor 
ration of Independence^ which he did." It will be 
remembered that Brevard was Chairman of the Com- 
mittee, and according to the statement of all, was 
understood to have been the writer of the document. 
The other six witnesses in this group all swear that 
what they heard was an abjuring of the authority of 
George IH.j and all without exception say that the 
instrument they heard read declared independence of 
the British crown. All, further agree, that the instru- 
ment of which they speak, was read to the people 
from the steps of the Court House in Charlotte, by 
Col. Thomas Polk, and received by the people with 
loud acclamations of approval. And further, all 
swear that it was in the month of May, 1775, though 
they do not name the precise day ; for at the time 
they swore, the day had never been called in question. 
A distinguished statesman had denied that there had 
ever been a meeting at Mecklenburg for such a pur- 
pose at all ; and the chief point in the testimony was 
6 



82 BEVOLUTIONAKY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

simply to establish the general fact of a meeting and 
declaration before July 4th, 1776. And further, it is 
to be remarked that of these seven who thus swear^ 
positively to the date of the 19th and 20th of May, 
time had scattered them, and age frosted their heads : 
some were in Georgia, some in Tennessee, and some 
still in Carolina ; and yet, separated as they had been 
for years, without opportunity of consultation with 
each other, when from various remote points their 
affidavits are brought in, all who swear to a specific 
date, with imdeviating uniformity fix it on the 19th 
and 20th days of May, 1775. Why, that date was as 
indelibly fixed in the memories of that class of men 
who have a faculty for retaining dates, as the 4th of 
July is fixed in your memories. You know and can- 
not forget, that on that day your forefathers in Con- 
gress declared the country independent ; you remem- 
ber the day by reason of what your fathers did — 
these men can no more forget their date than you 
forget yours ; for they remember it by reason of what 
they did themselves. Well then, here are fourteen 
unimpeachable witnesses, who, either by positive 
statement as to time, or by facts proved to have oc- 
curred on a particular occasion, which facts do fix the 
time ; here I say are fourteen witnesses, who, if hu- 
man testimony can prove anything, do show beyond 
all peradventure, that on the 20th of May, 1775, a 
certain paper was read and adopted in their hearing, 
whereby the people of Mecklenburg county did ab- 
jure allegiance to the British crown, and did declare 
themselves independent. Such a paper then was in 



MEKLENBURG DECLARATION. 83 

existence on that day, and was in the possession of 
the Secretary, John McKnitt Alexander. This is one 
fact, at least, established. Kow what became of that 
paper ? I am about to show you by a connected chain 
of testimony what became of it, and further that it 
is identical, word for word, and letter for letter, with 
the document I have read here to-night, as the Meck- 
lenburg Declaration of Independence. And first, 
who was John McKnitt Alexander, and what his 
character? He was a man, who, born in Pennsylva- 
nia, came in when young with the tide of Scotch- 
Irish emigration, which, as I have already told you, 
peopled that part of the State. Prudent, frugal, in- 
dustrious, intelligent, methodical, pious, he accumu- 
lated a handsome estate, and exhausted at last by the 
decay of nature, rather than by disease, he descended 
to the grave at the advanced age of four score and 
one. Of honesty the most undoubted, and truthful- 
ness that was never questioned, he possessed as he 
deserved, the respect of the entire community. An 
elder in the Presbyterian church for a great many 
years. Treasurer of the Synod of the two Carolinas 
for a long time, and often entrusted by that body 
with business the most important ; he sustained through 
life an unblemished character. "Well, into the posses- 
sion of this man went all the records and documents 
pertaining to the Mecklenburg meetings. Dr. Brev- 
ard, his co-Secretary, entered the army as a surgeon, 
was captured and imprisoned at Charleston, and on 
his release returning to his native county, sank under 
the injuries his constitution had sustained in his im- 



84 EEVOLIJTIONARY inSTORY OF N. CAROLLN'A. 

prisonment. The documents were then confided to 
Alexander, the other Secretary. IIow many copies 
were made of the resohitions of independence of the 
20th of May, we cannot say, though some of the wit- 
nesses state that they were so often repeated orally on 
that day, that many had them fixed in memoiy. Be 
this as it may, there were certain copies made by 
John McKnitt Alexander himself, of which he spoke 
particularly, and in some instances to witnesses yet 
living. He distinctly stated that he had furnished a 
copy from the original document, to Dr. Hugh Wil- 
liamson, who had undertaken to write a history of 
North Carolina; and also another copy to General 
William Richardson Davie, an officer of the revolu- 
tion, a distinguished lawyer, and employed also in 
the foreign diplomacy of the United States. Gener- 
al Davie had been reared in the settlement, and was 
the nephew of one of the clergy there. In the year 
1800, John McKnitt Alexander's house and papei's 
were consumed by fire. At that time many were 
living who had been actors at Charlotte, on the 19th 
and 20th of May, 1775. 

They naturally feared that the documents were all 
irrecoverably lost — and so some of them were, parti- 
cularly the original book of minutes ; but Mr. Alex- 
ander soon allayed apprehensions as to the Declara- 
tion itself, by stating that there were copies in exist- 
ence of his own hand-writing which he knew to be 
correct, and particularly mentioned that he had given 
one to General Davie. Some time after the fire, 
Hon. Judge Cameron, (still living,) in the course of 



^ 



MECKLElvrBURa DECLARATION. 85 

his official duty, was in Salisbury, where he met Mr. 
Alexander. Tlie parties had been acquaintances and 
I friends for years. The conversation turned, as it 
"5 j often did between them, on our revolutionary history, 
when Mr. Alexander lamented the loss of the origin- 
al documents by fire, but consoled himself as to the 
Declaration by saying, that some time before the ca- 
lamity, he had given a copy, which he knew to be 
/Correct, to General Davi^: " therefore," said he, (I 
I use his own words,) " the docmnent is safe,'''* At a 
subsequent period, and indeed on the last interview 
he ever had with Judge Cameron, when he was so 
blind that he could recognize him by his voice only, 
he then told him that Davie's copy was perfectly cor- 
rect. Soon after the death of General Davie, on the 
examination of his papers, (I give you the testimony 
as sworn to by a credible witness,) a paper was found, 
known by the witness to be in the hand writing of 
John McKnitt Alexander, commencing with the fol- 
lowing words : " North Carolina, Mecklenburg Coun- 
ty, May 20, 1775." Then follows a brief narrative or 
history of the assembling of the inhabitants of Mecklen- 
burg at Charlotte, on the 20th of May, as I have related 
it, and the adoption of the resolutions which are given 
at length in the MS., in John McKnitt Alexander's 
handwriting, verbatim, as I have read them to you. 
Tlie residue of the paper states that some by-laws 
were made merely to preserve order ; that the docu- 
ments, after approval by the people, on the 20th 
of May, were sent by a special messenger to the Con- 
tinental Congress, and gives their answer, as I have 



86 KEVOLUTIQNARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

already stated it, not from this paper, but from the 
affidavit of the messenger himself. Among Alexan- 
der's papers was also found a written statement, in 
his own handwriting, filed carefully away, mention- 
ing the destruction by fire of the original paper in 
1800, but adding that he had sent copies to Dr. Wil- 
liamson and General Davie. The paper that was in 
Davie's possession is now preserved in the office of 
State in I^orth Carolina. I^ow as to the paper sent 
to Williamson : Hon. Montfort Stokes was Governor 
of I^orth Carolina in the year 1831 ; while he occupi- 
ed that high position, he testified that in the year 
1793, (mark the date,) he saw in the possession of Dr. 
Williamson a copy of the documents of the 20th 
May, 1775, in the hand writing of John McKnitt Al- 
exander, together with a letter to Williamson from 
Alexander — and that he convei'sed with Williamson 
on the subject. I asked you to mark the date, be- 
cause it has been put down as an historical fact, (on 
what authority I cannot say,) that the date of the 
eojrliest copy of the resolutions was in September, 
1800 — after the destruction of the original by fire. Here 
we have them, as I have presented them to you, 
in 1793. 

But this is not all. Among the young men who 
were present at Charlotte on that memorable 19th 
and 20th, was one, who was, as he states, a deeply in- 
terested spectator, then twenty years old. This youth 
joined the army at once as a private, afterward be- 
came an officer, and conducted himself during his 
whole military career with great bravery. When he 



MECKLENBURG DECLARATION. 87 

retired from the service, lie resumed his classical stud- 
ies, and became a clergyman in that region of coun- 
try, exercising his office for more than thirty years 
with unblemished character. He Tcept a Journal of 
all that occurred^ from the meeting in Mecklenburg 
on the 20th of May, through the whole of his milita- 
ry career, and carefully preserved a copy of the pa- 
per read by Colonel Polk from the Court House steps. 
He had not obtained it from Alexander afterward, as 
"Williamson and Davie had, but made it at the time. 
Tlie memoir which he wrote contained that copy ; it 
agrees verhatiin with what I have read. IS^or yet 
have we done. JS^o one in Western Carolina has 
aught personally reproachful or disparaging to say of 
a Graham. The stock is too well known ; it has not 
degenerated in the present generation. Among the 
young men at that meeting, which he unhesitatingly 
affirms was held on the 19th and 20th of May, 1Y75, in 
Mecklenburg, was Joseph Graham, who afterward 
freely shed his blood for the principles which he heard 
Thomas Polk read that day. Hear how the highest 
officer in the State speaks of him : " The statement of 
General Joseph Graham, another surviving officer of 
the Revolution, a citizen and a soldier worthy of the 
best days of the Republic, will be read with pleasure 
and perfect confidence throughout the wide range of 
his acquaintance." He was there. What is his state- 
ment ? Why, that the Resolutions of Independence 
prepared by Dr. Brevard, were, as he believes, pre- 
cisely in the words that appeared afterward in print, 
and precisely, therefore, as I have read them to you. 



88 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

I think we know now what Caroliniims, at least, 
mean by the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independ- 
ence, and I think further, that we have proven its 
authenticity. 

If the two facts are established that there was a 
meeting on the 19th and 20th, and that a paper was 
read, it puts an end to the claim of the document of 
the 30tli, to be the Declaration of Independence, tor 
its own date disproves it. Tlie first paper, if any, 
would be prepared in answer to the cry of the people 
then made, " let us declare our independence ; " it 
would be made while the people were then and there 
assembled, and would be read to them, not concocted 
afterward by the County Committee at one of their 
meetings, and by them set forth to the people at their 
homes ; it would say something boldly and unequiv- 
ocally about independence, about refusing further al- 
legiance to the British Crown ; it would not set forth 
a document, in which the word independence does not 
once occur — it would not be content with a delicate 
insinuation that as protection and allegiance are re- 
ciprocal, therefore, the King having put them out of 
his protection, they would make a few temporary 
regulations for themselves, till the Provincial Con- 
gress should act. That is not the fashion of speech, 
my countrymen, in that region. They are not afraid 
to speak out in good, plain, wholesome English, just 
exactly what they mean ; and I am apt to think they 
know as well what independence means as any set of 
men on this broad continent. But the instrument of 
the 30th furnishes other evidence that it was not 



MECKLENBURG DECLAEATION. 89 

meant as a Declaration of Independence ; for it is 
avowedly to be of force hut for a time ; until the 
Provincial Congress should direct otherwise '^ in reg- 
ulating the jurisprudence of the province." Thus 
showing, first, that they must have wished a terri'jpo- 
rary independence, if this be their declaration ; and, 
secondly, that the true intent of the document was to 
" regulate the jurisprudence of the province " merely. 
But there is one fact incidentally mentioned in the 
story of the 19th and 20th of May, which, with a 
knowledge of the localities, becomes very strong con- 
firmatory testimony. You remember that on the day 
of meeting, the express arrived with the news of Lex- 
ington and Concord. [NTow, if any one will take the 
trouble to turn to the 584th page of the 2nd volume 
of Mr. Lossing's interesting, useful and patriotic field 
book of the Revolution, he will find there a letter 
from Kichard Caswell, one of the l^orth Carolina de- 
legates to the Continental Congress, an attentive ex- 
amination of which will show that Governor Caswell, 
on Sunday, the 1st of May, 1775, met at Petersburg, 
in Virginia, the express from Massachusetts, bringing 
the news of the battle of Lexington. We may well 
believe that the brave men of New Eno-land lost no 
time in communicating to the sister colonies that war 
had begun. The battle near Boston occurred on the 
19th of April, 1775 ; we will suppose that they sent 
oflf tidings on the 20th of April ; you must bear in 
mind that those w^ere not the days of railroads, steam- 
boats, or public conveyances ; so you will not be sur- 
prised to find that a horseback traveller, making all 



90 KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

tlie speed lie could, had occupied ten or eleven days 
in reaching Petersburg. His journey southward 
would next take him to Halifax, in JSTorth Carolina, 
for thither led then the only mail route. Tliis would 
occupy him, on horseback, probably six days, which 
would bring him to the 7th of May. He had then to 
diverge westward from Halifax to Charlotte, a dis- 
tance of some hundreds of miles, over a country with 
bad roads and difficult of travel even now. It would 
take him in the then state of that country, about 
twelve days diligent riding to reach Charlotte, and 
this would bring him to the 19th of May. He could 
not, at any rate, without criminal loitering — and that, 
too, when he carried an express — have prolonged his 
journey from Halifax to Charlotte to twenty-three 
days, never reaching it until the 30th of May ; and 
yet the testimony shows that he arrived on the day 
Independence was declared, and that his arrival 
quickened the declaration. It must then have been 
made on the 20th ; and this is to my mind at least, 
conclusively proved by the fact that the document of 
that day does distinctly refer in express terms to the 
slaughter of our northern brethren near Boston, on 
the 19th of April, (a fact which roused the Carolini- 
nians almost to frenzy,) while that of the 30th is per- 
fectly silent concerning Lexington — not a syllable in 
it of this most exciting event. 

If the resolves of the 30th were the Mecklenburg 
Declaration, and if the Carolinians were quickened in 
making it, by the news of the murder of their breth- 
ren at the East, is it not most marvellous that not the 



MECKLEinsURG DECLARATION". 91 

slightest allusion should be made to the blood-stirring 
story ? I might go further and show how the mistake 
arose of confounding the proceedings of the 30th with 
the true Declaration of the 20th ; for I discovered 
among the Revolutionary papers of an ancestor of my 
own, the document on which the wdiole error has 
been founded. It was the proclamation of the Eoyal 
Governor, dated after he fled on board one of the 
armed vessels of the Crown, setting forth among oth- 
er matters that, he had seen published in one of the 
only two papers in the Colony, certain "resolves of a 
set of p.eople styling themselves a Committee for the 
Comity of Mecklenburg, most traitorously declaring 
the entire dissolution of this country, and setting up 
a system of rule and regulation repugnant to the laws 
and subversive of His Majesty's Government." This 
document, from the description of it, applied exactly 
to the resolves of the 30th ult., (setting up a system, 
&c.) which were printed, and again re-printed in 
Massachusetts, Kew York and South Carohna ; but 
had no reference to the short declaration of the 20th, 
which set up no rules or regulations whatever, and 
was not printed. It was not printed, because every- 
where out of Mecklenburg — even in l!^orth Carolina 
herself — it was thought to be too strong to permit any 
hope of reconciliation, and it was therefore deemed 
injudicious to print it then. The resolves were print- 
ed, because their chief object was to establish a tein- 
jporcury govern^nent^ and they were valuable as fur- 
nishing a model to other counties in the State, which, 
in point of fact, those counties very soon followed 



02 Bi:VOLUTIONAKY IHSTORY OF N. CAKOLINA. 

After tlie national declaration the end was gained, 
and there was no need of printing it ; beside which, 
the men of Mecklenburg were too busy fighting for 
what had been declared on the 4th of July, to trouble 
themselves about printing, when they were some 
three hundred miles from any printing press. It was 
no time to be discussing the point who first made a 
declaration of independence ; there it was, made^ and 
it was their business just to maintain it by hard fight- 
ing ; but they never forgot in Mecklenburg what they 
had done, and the whole story, showing the entire 
popular belief of the country, is told in the homely 
but expressive answer of a gray-haired old Scotch- 
man, who was present, a youth, at Charlotte, on the 
19th and 20th, when the declaration was made, and 
fought through the whole war of tlie Revolution. — 
AYhen asked if he knew anything of the aifair, he an- 
swered : " Och aye / Tani Polk declared indepen- 
dence lang before any hody else.^^ 

I pray you pardon me, for having so long trespass- 
ed on your indulgent patience. I am lecturing out of 
my proper place in the course, and have not had time 
to make my lecture short ; let me hasten to the mor- 
al of my story. Ye are my countrymen, gathered 
from all parts of our broad land. Probably the blood 
of some brave soldier from each one of the glorious 
old Thirteen, that, with Washington to lead, w^ent 
through fire to baptize a nation in their blood and to 
name it Free, is represented here to-night. There is 
circlino; here throui^^h our veins the blood of IS^ew- 
England and New York, of Jersey and Pennsylvania, 



MECKLENBUKG DECIJVRATION. 93 

brave little Delaware, Maryland, Yirginia, tlie Caro- 
linas and Georgia ; and the blood of men from all 
these once made a common pool on more than one 
liard fought field, l^o sonnd was then heard of sec- 
tional feeling, saying I fight for Massachusetts, and I 
for Virginia, I for Connecticut, and I for California, 
I for Jersey, and I for Georgia. No, the cry was, 
We fight for the freedom of all — we want no freedom 
which does not cover all — we will have no freedom 
but for all — and have it for all, with God's good help, 
we will, or leave our bones to bleach on the fields of 
our country. Ah, it is glorious to sit down and turn 
over the pages of those stirring times, until the heart 
throbs and the eye waters, and we rise to the full ap- 
preciation of the dignity, the sublimity of that pur- 
est, most unselfish revolution, recorded in the world's 
history. Ah ! that is the process by which to bring 
out the true feeling — intensely American. Look 
back, look back, my countrymen 1 Oh, how our brave 
old fathers clung together. Boston was in trouble in 
17T4. North Carolina expressed her sympathy, and 
at a cost of £800 sterling, sent to her a vessel loaded 
with provisions. Tlie town from which it went had 
but six hundred inhabitants, and the whole colony 
but one hundred and fifty thousand. Again, hear 
them after the acts of Parliament leveled against 
Boston. They speak in their Provincial Congress : 
''Kesolved, That the inhabitants of Massachusetts 
Province have distinguished themselves in a manly 
support of the rights of America in general, and that 
the cause in which they now suffer is the cause of 



94 REVOLUTIONAKY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

every lionest American who deserves the blessings 
which the constitntion hokls forth to him. That the 
grievances nnder which the town of Boston labors at 
present are the effect of a resentment leveled at them, 
for having stood foremost in an opposition to measures 
which must eventuall}^ have involved all British 
America in a state of abject dependence and servi- 
tude." These be noble words. Again, hear these 
Bame men of Mecklenburg, (of whom I have said so 
much,) in one of their meetings of 1TT5 : " Tlie 
cause of Boston is the cause of all : our destinies 
are indissolubly connected with those of our East- 
ern fellow-citizens, and we must either submit to 
all the impositions which an unprincipled Parlia- 
ment may impose, or support our brethren who 
are doomed to sustain the first shock of that pow- 
er which, if successful there, will ultimately overwhelm 
all in the common calamity." lliese are brotherly 
tones, and think you tlie Boston men of that day 
did not appreciate them ? Why Massachusetts had 
her sons down in Carolina, and the men understood 
and loved each other. Let Josiah Quincy, the young 
patriot of Boston, tell the story, for he was the man 
who could tell it. He was at the house of Cornelius 
Harnett, the man who drew the resolution in the 
Provincial Congress, calling on the Continental body 
for a Declaration of Independence ; the man whom 
Quincy described to his countrymen as " the Samuel 
Adams of ISTorth Carolina." lie says, " Eobt. Howe, 
Harnett, and I, made the social triumvirate of the 
evening." Tliey settled then the plan of " continental 







Habnf.tt's House. 



MECKLENBURG DECLAEATION. 95 

correspondence," and Quincy went liome to tell his 
countrymen that IS^orth Carolina, and indeed all the 
South, would join Massachusetts in her resistance. 
The I^orth and the South then felt as brethren ; and 
now, ye sons of the J^orth — ye men with the blood of 
the dead soldiers and heroes of New England, ISTew 
York, Jersey, Penns^dvania, coursing through your 
veins ; ye sons of the Xorth, one and all — I stand 
here with the blood of the Southron in my veins — 
and I hold out my Land in love to you ; our fathers 
were brethren, and fought side by side, and they 
comforted each other in death on the battle iield, 
and they loved each other ; what should we do ? 
Will ye refuse my offered hand ? Oh, no ! it can- 
not be, ye cry — you are our brethren, for we are all 
children of one household. Aye, and so we be — 
and so with God's blessing, would we ever be. — 
And as children of one great household, what should 
be our conduct? Mutual forbearance and love, 
and a united resistance to all, come when they may 
and from where they may, who would sow discord 
between us. We are a large household ; there must 
be some diversities of opinion ; let there, however, 
be none on this great determination, viz : — that our 
diversities of opinion shall be so discussed with 
entire respect for the rights and consciences of each 
other, and our mutual determination in all honor and 
honesty to support each other's just rights shall be 
BO fulfilled, that there shall be no discord that can 
lead to a rupture of family ties. . 

Paramount to all other matters of interest with us 



96 RKVOLUnONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

just now, is, I apprehend, the determination to do as 
our father did, stand together through life, and if ne- 
cessary, in death, on the battle field. IIow near we 
may be to the need of all our strength, God only 
knows, but the day is coming when we shall need it. 
May it find us, when it comes, neither disunited nor 
unprepared for its approach. The moral of my story, 
then, is briefly this : that, sprung from fathers who 
all did well, and manfully acted their parts together, 
it becomes not us, their sons, either to forget their 
sufferings and achievements, or to spurn their exam- 
ple. May I not, with becoming modesty, say, in con- 
clusion, for the good old State that has furnished my 
theme, that, as one of the children of the common 
household, while treated with respect and kindness, 
she is exceedingly good natured, and not over ready 
to take offence when no wa'ong is meant. She can 
understand, too, a joke among friends. She is willing 
the other children of the family, especially the little 
and the young ones, should (if it will afford their 
childishness any amusement,) call her "sleepy old 
Rip Van "Winkle." Eip Yan Winkle be it then : it 
is a respectable soubriquet, for it is Dutch, and North 
Carolina has rather a fancy for Dutch blood, inasmuch 
as it has never proved itself cowardly : bnt let me 
tell you, sleepy as you may think Kip to be, he fol- 
lows the fashion of his country, and generally sleeps, 
to use the phrase of his people, " with one eye open." 
Rip thinks he was wide awake on the 20th of May, 
1Y75, in Mecklenburg — wide awake, when, on the 
morning of the 27th of February, 1776, he fought the 



MECKLENBUIiG DECLARATION. 97 

loyalists to the number of 1,500, and made a clear 
field of it, scattering tliem and crusliing their prin- 
ciples throughout Carolina ; wide awake on the 12th 
April, 1776, when he told. the Continental Congress 
to shout out, without fear, Independence / wide awake, 
when, after the war, almost one of his first acts was 
to found an Universitj ; wide awake when he took 
the lead and ordered the first geological survey of 
any State in this Union ; and above all, wide awake 
when he saved the money he earned, and so always 
paid promptly every dollar he owed, frojn the time 
he was a freeman, and never had occasion to give his 
promissory note, much less deny his signature to it 
afterward; wide awake when he resolved to use a 
little of his surplus money to show his respect and 
regard for a very worthy gentleman and friend of 
his, one Mr. George Washington, and so caused the 
best sculptor in the world to make a marble image of 
his departed friend, and had it set up that the chil- 
dren might know what was old Eip's idea of a man. 
Who would have thought, by the way, that the sleepy 
old fellow was so full of gratitude and good taste ! 
Keally, he does not seem to have been such a drowsy 
character, after all ; and now, go where he is, per- 
haps he will be lying down, and perchance you will 
think he is again asleep : but let me tell you, he 
knows very well all that is going on in the great fam- 
ily household, and how each child is getting on in 
the world ; and he knows, too, something about the 
families that are of no kin to him ; and just whisper 
to him that you think there are thieves and enemies 
7 



9S KEVOLUnONAEY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

prowling around the old homestead, and he will tell 
you that he knows it, and you will see him on his 
feet in an instant ; and when he is wanted, there he 
w^ill be, rifle in hand, with a man's heart and a man's 
strength, to do all a man's duty ; and when he has 
done it, he will, perhaps, quietly lie down again ; and 
whether he is too sleepy, or whether he is too modest, 
I cannot say — but so it is, that after he has done all 
that a man should do, he will be very sure, unless 
obliged to speak, to say little or nothing about it. 
Ladies and gentleman, this is Kip Yan Winkle. I 
hope you like him. 



BRITISH INYASION 



OF 



NORTH CAROLIIfA, H 1776, 



A LECTURE, 



BY HON. DAVID L SWAIN, LL. D. 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE HISTORICAL SOCIETY 

OP THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH CAROLINA, 

APRIL 1, 1853. 



0f 



The Lecture delivered before tlie Historical Society 
of New York, by the Eev. Francis L. Hawks, D. D., 
on the 16tli December last, on tbe early history of 
North Carolina, is devoted mainly to an examination 
of th(' rjuestions connected with the Mecklenburg 
Declaration of Independence. Tlie lecture of ^rov. 
Graham, on the 20th January, after an interesting 
preliminary dissertation is confined to a, single topic, 
the ]]ritish Invasion of North Carolina, in 1Y80-'81. 
I propt)se to direct attention to the intermediate pe- 
riod — the Invasion of 1776, and especially to the in- 
cidents connected with the battle of Moore's Creek, 
and the subsequent career of Gov. Martin. 

Josiah Martin, the last of the royal Governors of 
North Carolina, entered upon the duties of his office 
on the 11th of August, 1771. He is said to have 
been an Englishman by birth. His brother Samuel 
was a member of the British Parliament, who, taking 
offence at personal allusions, in one of the numbers 

[101] 



102 KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

of the North Briton, challenged John Wilkes, the 
famous author of that paper in 1763. A duel ensued, 
in which the former was wounded. Tlie Governor 
was, himself, probably, a E"orth Briton, in feelings, 
and associations ; and this fact may have aided him 
to some extent in acquiring the commanding influence 
which he subsequently exercised over the highland 
clans in North Carolina. He was a man of talent, 
tact and energy, and these qualities were improved 
by military experience and skill. He had attained 
the rank of Major in the British service, and his mil- 
itary bearing was rendered more impressive by bland 
and conciliatory manners. Fort Johnston was burned 
by the militia under the command of Col. John Ashe, 
on the 18th July, 1775 ; and on the following day, 
Gov, Martin is supposed to have taken refuge on 
board the Cruiser, sloop of war. From the period of 
his abdication, all our historians seem to lose sight of 
him. "Williamson, Martin and Jones relate with suf- 
ficient fulness and accuracy the leading incidents in 
his previous history, but neither seems to have sus- 
pected that he had any considerable connection with 
subsequent events. 

It is my purpose to show that the plan of the cam- 
paign of 1776, was not merely suggested by him ; 
but that the entire system of operations for the reduc- 
tion of North Carolina, until the retirement of Corn- 
wallis, in May 1781, was prosecuted to some extent 
under his immediate supervision. The entire omis- 
sion on the part of all the historians of the revolution, 
who have fallen within the range of my observation, 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 103 

to present even an outline, of the most important 
events which occurred within our limits, in the early 
part of the contest, imposes upon me the necessity 
before entering further upon my narrative, of explain- 
ing the causes of this seeming neglect, and intimating 
the sources from which I derive the evidence by which 
I expect to sustain the position I have assumed. 

On the 30th April, 1819, the Kaleigh Kegister, at 
the instance of the late Col. "William Polk, first direct- 
ed public attention to the Mecklenburg Declaration. 
On the 9tli July thereafter, Thomas Jefferson in a 
published letter to John Adams, called in question 
the authenticity of this paper. In 1831, the Governor 
of ISTorth Carolina, (Montfort Stokes) in obedience to 
a resolution of the General Assembly, reaffirmed the 
authenticity of the controverted document, and pub- 
lished all the evidence that could then be obtained in 
support of it. The leading objection of Mr. Jefferson, 
however, was not answered. " This gigantic step of 
the county of Mecklenburg " was proved by no con- 
temporaneous record, was noticed by no historian of 
North Carolina, or the adjacent States, and had never 
until then, found its way even into the newspapers. 
" When Mr. Henry's resolutions, (said Mr. Jefferson) 
far short of independence, flew like lightning through 
every paper, and kindled both sides of the Atlantic, 
this flaming declaration of the same date, of the in- 
pendence of Mecklenburg county, of North Carolina, 
absolving it from the British allegiance, and abjuring 
all political connection with that nation, although 
sent to Congress too, is never heard of." Tlie living, 



lOtt REVOLUTION AEY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

positive, witnesses wlio avouclied the fact of the de- 
claration, were numerous and respectable ; but in the 
absence of written contemporaneous evidence, had 
there been no subsequent developments, the issue, out 
of ]^orth Carolina, would, probably have been decid- 
ed against us. Shortly after the appearance of. the 
State pamphlet however, Peter Force discovered in 
an English periodical a proclamation issued by Gov. 
Martin on board his Majesty's ship Cruiser, in Cape 
Fear on the 8th August, 1775, from wdiich he copied 
and published the following extract : "And w^hereas, 
I have also seen a most infamous publication in the 
Cape Fear Mercury importing to be resolves of a set 
of people, styling themselves a committee for the 
county of Mecklenburg, most traitorously declaring 
the entire dissolution of the laws, government and 
constitution of this country, and setting up a system 
of rule and regulation, repugnant to the laws and 
subversive of his majesty's government, &c." This 
publication w^as followed in a very few months by 
the discovery in the towm of IN'ew Berne, of the proc- 
lamation book of Gov. Martin, the original record, 
not only of this, but of all the proclamations issued 
during his administration. This book was delivered 
by the discoverer, the Rev. Dr. Hawks, to the Gov- 
ernor of the State, and is now^ among the public ar- 
chives, in the office of the Secretary of State* ^ 

^ How came this book which Governor Martin carried with him in his 
flight first to Fort Johnston and then to the Cruiser, in the Cape Fear Riv- 
er, in July 1775, to be found in New Berne in 1833 ? Did the Governor 
remain with A'aj. Craig when Lord Coruwallis marched to Virginia, and 



BEITISn INVASION IN 1776. 105 

Shortly subsequent to the discovery of the record 
referred to, Jared Sparks, while engaged in historical 
investigations in London, found in the State paper 
office, an original letter from Governor Martin to 
Lord Dartmouth, dated " North Carolina, Fort John- 
ston, 30th June, 1775," from which he copied the 
following paragraph : "The resolves of the commit- 
tee of Mecklenburg which your Lordship will find in 
the enclosed newspaper, surpass all the horrid and 
treasonable publications, that the inflammatory spir- 
its of this continent have yet produced; and your 
Lordship may depend, its authors and abettors w^U 
not escape my notice, whenever my hands are suf- 
ficiently strengthened to attempt the recovery of the 
lost authority of government. A copy of these 
resolves, I am informed, was sent off by express to the 
Congress at Philadelphia, as soon as they w^ere passed 
in the cominitte>'." Mr. Sparks states that the news- 
paper alluded to, ujifortunately could not be found in 
the office. 



accompany the fbrmcr on his expedition to New Berne in August '81 ? In 
January 1775, he had buried there his son Samuel, a promising boy, the 
idol of his parents, and a favorite with all who knew him. (Gov, Burke's 
Letter Book, p. 8.) Other influences than considerations of policy, may in 
connection with the latter, have impelled a return to the Palace, where 
amidst extinguished hopes, still lingered the melancholy attractions of the 
grave. 

The history of the Order Book of Lord Cornwallis, containing all the 
entries made during each day's march, until he reached Deep River, on the 
20th March, 1781, is not less mysterious. It was found a few years since, 
among the papers of William Hooper, the signer of the Declaration of 
Independence, by his grandson, the Rev. Dr. Hooper, and is now in our 
archives. 



106 KEVOLUTIONAEY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

Governor Martin on his hasty abdication, j)robably 
carried with him all the records that were immediate- 
ly accessible. There were at that time but two news- 
papers published in the province — the North Carolina 
Gazette, at New Berne, and the Cape Fear Mercury, 
at Wilmington. On the 30tli January, 17Y5, Adam 
Boyd entered into a contract with the Wilmington 
committee to resume the publication of the latter, 
("some time ago laid aside") and continue it for a 
year. The precise period at which James Davis dis- 
continued the Gazette, has not been ascertained, but 
the prospectus of the North Carolina Gazette or Im- 
partial Intelligencer and Weekly General Advertiser? 
the first number of which was published at New- 
Berne on the 29tli August, 1783, discloses the fact 
that "no newspaper had been published in North 
Carolina for several years last past." Tliere were four 
printing presses in operation at different times during 
the revolution, one at New Berne, another at Halifax, 
a third attached to the army of Lord Cornwallis, and 
a fourth designed to disseminate the counter procla- 
mations and manifestoes of Gen. Greene.* We have 
in our archives the first volume of newspapers pub- 
lished in North Carolina, (in 1761) and the first po- 
litical pamphlet ^ which is known to have issued from 

' See Appendix A. 

' " Justice and policy of taxing the American colonies in Great Britain, 
considered ; wherein is shewed that the colonists are not a conquered peo- 
ple ; — that they are constitutionally entitled to be taxed only by their own 
consent ; and that the imposing a stamp-duty on the colonists, is as impol- 
itic as it is inconsistent with their rights. ]Vo7i i^iM sed patrice. By Mau- 
rice Moore, Esquire. Wilmington, N. C, printed by Andrew Stuai"t, and 
sold at his office, near the Exchange, 1766." 



BRITISH INVASION IN IV 107 

our press, but tliere is not a single rev uxiar j news- 
paper, pamphlet or liand-bill on our files, with the 
exception of the laws and journals of the General 
Assembly. There is probably none in existence, and 
the copy of the Cape Fear Mercury transmitted by 
Gov. Martin to Lord Dartm(juth and lost from the 
file in the State paper office, is probably the only rev- 
olutionary Korth Carolina newspaper any portion of 
the contents of which it is now possible to ascertain. 

We possess copies in a pretty good state of preser- 
vation of all the acts of the General Assembly, passed 
and printed during the revolution. The pamphlet 
containing the enactments of October session, 1799, 
consists of 34 pages, 16 small folio, the remainder in 
quarto. The continued scarcity of paper in 1781 and 
in 1782, compelled the public printer to adopf~a simi- 
lar arrangement. Even writing paper was not always 
at the command of men in high official station. In 
1776, General Rutherford entreated the council of 
safety to hasten a supply of powder to Rowan, to 
enable him to march against the Cherokees, and with 
it a quire of paper, on which he might write his dis- 
patches. In 1782, General Butler of Orange, urges 
a similar request upon Governor Burke. ^ 

With these facts before us the absence of contem- 
poraneous evidence, either written or printed, in rela- 
tion to the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, 



^The acte passed in June, 1781, are comprised in a pamphlet of 20 pages, 
16 folio, 4 quarto without title 'page or imprint, and seem to have been dis- 
tributed in the ratio of one to each county. See the closing paragraph of 
Gen. Butler's letter of 10th of August, '81 to Gov. Burke— ante p. 83. 



108 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

ceases to be matter of surprise. I have entered into 
these minute details, however, not merely for the pur- 
pose of explaining the causes of the mystery and 
obscurity in which this remarkable event in our his- 
tory has hitherto been involved, but to prepare you 
for the tedious and pains-taking investigation upon 
which w^e are about to enter. 

Whilst the war w^as in progress, the tory leaders of 
course communicated only with Gov. Martin or his 
confidential agents, and when it w^as over, and life no 
longer dependent upon secrecy, the fear of disgrace 
was a sufficient motive for silence. 

For facts and illustrations then, in relation to this 
portion of our history we must turn to unpublished 
records and manuscripts, here and elsewhere, to con- 
temporaneous publications in the sister States, and 
especially to the records, magazines and newspapers 
of the mother country. Many of these sources of 
information Avill in due time be opened to us, in the 
immense and invaluable repositor)^ of facts, in rela- 
tion to the wliole range of American history, now in 
the course of publication under the patronage of the 
general government by Peter Force. ^ 

Whether the design in removing Governor Tyron 
to New York, was to reward him for the vigor and 
ability with which he had maintained the royal cause 
during the commotion occasioned by the stamp act, 
and the subsequent war with the Eegulators, or to 
make room for a successor better suited to the pecu- 

^ See Appendix B. 



< 



H 

!» 



> 
> 




BRITISH INVASION IN 1775. 109 

liar condition of things in Nortli Carolina : the meas- 
ure was evidently a wise one. Gov. Tyron was not a 
favorite with any considerable portion of the popula- 
tion. Pie was disliked by the leading men upon the 
Cape Fear, and was the great object of aversion and 
dread to the Regulators. Gov. Martin on the other 
hand was able to adopt measures of conciliation, 
especially by a judicious exercise of the pardoning 
power, and of this advantage it will be seen he availed 
himself promptly and dextrously. 

The bond of nuion between the Regulators and the 
Highlanders and the consequent almost universal sup- 
port yielded by both parties to the royal government, 
are subjects of interesting enquiry, but not, we think, 
of very difficult explanation. There was the sympa- 
tliy produced by the sense of common oppression and 
suffering, and a common apprehension of future pun- 
ishment for past offences. Tliere was the additional 
tie of deep seated devotion to Prince Edward upon 
the part of the Highlanders, and a decided preference 
for him, to the reigning monarch, on the part of the 
Regulators. This is shown with respect to the Regu- 
lators by the most prominent fact set forth in Gov. 
Tryon's proclamation of the 18th October, 1770. Tlie 
series of outrages perpetrated at Hillsborough on the 
preceding 25th September in audaciously attacking his 
Majesty's associate justice in the execution of his 
office and barbarously beating and wounding several 
other persons, concludes with an averment of the 
crowning enormity of " drinking damnation to their 



110 KEVOLUTIONART HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

lawful sovereign King George and success to the 
Pretender.^ 

The Regulators, though now arrayed on the side of 
the King, were nevertheless in opposition to Ashe, 
Caswell and Waddell and the other popular leaders 
whom they encountered at Alamance. A portion, 
too, of the Highlanders were probably themselves Re- 
gulators, and others may have sympathi'zed with 
them. A much wider range of country seems to 
have been under the influence of this political party, 
than is ordinarily supposed. The spirit which ani- 
mated it may be traced in events wdiich occurred 
about this time in Halifax, Bute^ and Granville, 
while it maintained a decided ascendency in Orange, 
Randolph, Guilford, Surry and the contiguous por- 
tion of Rowan. In^ Anson, from which the present 
county of Richmond had not then been separated, 
the manifestations were about as early and nearly as 
violent as in Orange. Waightstill Avery, the first 
Attorney-General after the revolution, having just 
obtained a license to practice law from Governor 
Trj^on, was sworn as an Attorney at the April term, 
1769, of Anson Superior Court. Here he became 
acquainted wdth Major John Dunn, Colonel Samuel 
Spencer and Captain Alexander Martin, the first na- 
med a prominent tory, and the two latter leading 
whigs in subsequent times. His diary records the 
fact that these gentlemen informed him that on the 
evening previous to his arrival, (11th April,) " a set 

' Supplement to the Cape Fear Mercury, No. 48, Oct., 1770. 
' Now Franklin and Warren. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. Ill 

of banditti who styled themselves Regulators brought 
a large quantity of hickory switches to menace the 
clerk of the court — Coloner Spencer ; and flogged 
his writer." ^ This occurrence was nearly eighteen 
months previous to the great Hillsborough riot which 
called forth the proclamation of Governor Try on. — 
How much further the spint of the party may have 
been disseminated in the direction of the Scotch set- 
tlements, and to what extent the Highlanders had 
passed the boundaries of Anson, it may not be very 
easy at the present day to determine. That a very 
intimate union existed between these clans and the 
Eegulators, from the Cape Fear to the extreme west- 
ern settlements bordering on the Blue Ridge, within 
a short time thereafter, is clearly ascertained. Gover- 
nor Martin's ascendency over both parties is every 
where manifest. A letter from the Earl of Dart- 
mouth to the Governor, dated AVhite Hall, May 3, 
1775, reveals the spell which bound the Regulators 
to the throne. " Your letters of the 26th January 
and 10th of March, numbers 27 and 28, the latter of 
which I received only yesterday, contain matters of 
very great importance. Tlie addresses from the four 
counties of Guilford, Dobbs, Rowan and Surry, 
breath a spirit of loyalty to the King, and attachment 
to the authority of Great Britain which cannot be 
too much encouraged, and it will be necessary that 
you lose no time in acquainting the inhabitants of 
these counties, that these testimonies of their duty 

^ Colonel Avery's MSS. Diary in our archives. 



112 EEVOLUTIONAEY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

and affection have been most graciously received by 
liis Majesty ; that bis Majesty will not fail to afford- 
tbem those marks of his royal favor, which such a 
meritorious course of conduct appears to deserve, and 
that as soon as the necessary forms will admit, his 
Majesty's clemency towards the insurgents in 1770, 
will be extended by a proclamation of general par- 
don, to all except Herman Husbands." He directs 
him to proceed immediately, through the agency of 
respectable persons to organize associations in each of 
these counties for the support of government. He 
hopes it will be possible to avoid the fatal necessity 
of drawing iHiG sword, but nevertheless deems it pro- 
per to prepare for every emergency. To this end he 
authorizes him to hold out to gentlemen in these 
counties, the prospect of commissions suitable to their 
rank and station. He states furthermore that he has 
his Majesty's commands to direct General; Gage, upon 
the Governor's application, " to send some able and 
discreet officer, to lead the people- forth against any 
rebellious attempts to disturb the public peace." ' 

"We have in this dispatch the earliest intimation of 
the first measure adopted in the plan of the campaign 
of 1776, the history of which, we now begin to trace, 
and to develop, step by step. 

Governor Martin w^as able and indefatigable, but 
evidently credulous and sanguine. He had persuad- 
ed himself, and in due time succeeded in convincing 
the home government, that the authors of these ad- 

» Am. Arch., ith series, rol. 1st, p. 476. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 113 

dresses spoke the sentiments of a decided majority of 
the people of tlie province. He travelled extensively 
and mingled freely with the inhabitants of the more 
populous counties, and especially in the highland set- 
tlements. A very large proportion of the monied 
capital, a much more potent instrument then than at 
the present day, was wielded by Scotch merchants, 
who had establishments in all the more important 
counties. At the head of this interest was John Ham- 
ilton, of Halifax, who is in due time to claim our 
attention in a more imposing position. 

In May, 1774, Governor Martin spent ten days in 
that town on his way to select a summer residence in 
the county of Bute, and is supposed to have passed a 
considerable part of the summer there on his return.' 
He had secret adherents, moreover, in the ranks of 
the professedly most ardent of the whigs. Among 
these may be particularized Farquard Campbell and 
Tliomas Rutherford, men of wealth, character and in- 
fluence in the county of Cumberland. They w^ere 
members of the first provincial convention, which 
met at Kew Berne, on the 25th of August, 1774, and 
appointed William Hooper, Joseph Hews and Eich- 
ard Casw^ell delegates to the first Continental Con- 
gress. Tliey were members of the second Provincial 
Convention which met at the same place. On the 
3d of April, 1775, they both signed the articles of 
American Association, and united in the vote denounc- 
ing the " equivocal conduct" of Thomas Macknight, 

* Andrew Miller to Governor Burke. Letter Book. 

8 



114 REVOLU;nONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

a member from Cm'ritiick, in withholding his signa- 
ture, and in holding him up "as the proper object of 
contempt to this continent." They were members of 
the iii'st Provincial Congress in August, 1775, at 
Hillsborough, and of the second, which met at Hali- 
fax, 4th April, 1776. On the 12th of that month 
they voted for the Ttesolution instructing our delega- 
tes in the Continental Congress, to declare independ- 
ence. Before the meeting of the third Provincial 
('onofress, they Vv-ere both in conlinement at Halifax, 
as prisoners of war.' 

Poyal governors, like their royal masters, are fre- 
(piently in perilous times, in situations not the most 
favorable for the ascertainment of truth, and it is not 
\'crv surprising that a gentleman of Governor Martin's 
temperament, should from the evidence before him, 
and the influences by which he was surrounded, have 
greatly over estimated the strength of the loyalists. 
With the exception of Georgia, all the English wri- 
tei's of the day concur in the opinion, that the adlie- 
3'ents of the crown were more numerous in Korth Ca- 
rolina, than in any other province, and there is am- 
ple evidence, that the opinion was confidently enter- 
tained by the government in the autumn of 1775, 
that a respectable naval and military armament, sent 
to the aid of Governor Martin, would not merely res- 
tore him to his lost authority, but insure the speedy 
subjugation of all the southern provinces. The se- 
lection of an " able and discreet oilicer," to unite and 

•See Journal Third ProYincial Confjres*, Am. Aicb. Vol. 6, p. C.".. 



BKrnsH INVASION IN 1776. 115 

lead the Highland clans and the Regulators became 
an object of momentous importance and concern. 

Among the emigrants to the Cape Fear, about the 
close of 1773, was Allan McDonald, of Kingsborough, 
the husband of the chivalrous Flora. She was no 
longer young, but independently of the historic fame 
which she had even then achieved, was eminently 
fascinating and attractive. The great giant of En- 
glish literature. Dr. Johnston, was her guest in Sep- 
tember of that year, occupied the room and slept in 
the bed which had given shelter and repose to the 
fugitive Stuart, and there is obviously no incident in 
his personal history, to which he referred more fre- 
quently or with greater pride and pleasure. We have 
his assurance, that her name will be mentioned in 
history, and if courage and fidelity be virtues, men- 
tioned with honor. He describes her as a woman of 
middle stature, soft features and elegant presence, 
and in a subsequent letter to Mrs. Thrale, as of " pleas- 
ing person and elegant behaviour.'' He adds, that 
she and her husband are poor and going to try their 
fortune in America. She is understood to have mar- 
ried at twenty-four, and must then have been about 
forty-five years of age. Her husband was probably 
sogiething older. 

Boswell represents him to have been the heau ideal 
of a Highland chieftain, exhibiting " the graceful 
mien and manly looks which the popular Scotch song 
has attributed to that character. He had his tartan 
plaid thrown about him, a large blue bonnet with a 
knot of blue ribbonds, like a cockade, and brown 



116 REVOLUTION AKY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

coat, of a sort of duffil, and tartan waistcoat with 
gold buttons and gold button holes, a bluish philibeg 
and tartan hose. He had jet black hair, tied behind, 
and was a large, stately man with a steady, sensible, 
countenance." A son born in 1759, accompanied them 
in their emigration to North Carolina, who w^as in all 
respects worthy of his lineage and destined to attain 
celebrity, in arms, letters and science.' 

High as his pretensions seem to have been, howev- 
er, Allan McDonald was not " the prudent and dis- 
creet othcer," selected by Gen. Gage to lead the united 
bands of Re^^rulators and His^hlanders. 

Towards the close of the year 1775, as w^e learn 
from the account of the proceedings of the Ameri- 
can Colonists in the Gentleman's Magazine for June 
1776, two Scotch officers, Messrs. McDonald and 
McLeod passed through New Berne. "They were 
suspected of some sinister designs and questioned by 
the provincials concerning their business. Tliey pre- 
tended they were officer who were wounded at 
Bunker's Hill, and had left the army with a design to 
settle among their friends."' * 

On the 10th day of January, 1776, Governor Mar- 
tin from on board his Majesty's ship Cruiser, in Cape 
Fear Kiver, issued a proclamation, denouncing the 
unnatural rebellion then existing, declaring his deter- 
mination " to erect his Majesty's royal standard, and 
to collect and unite his Majesty's people under the 
same," tendering forgiveness of all past offences, 

' See Appendix C. 
•p. p. 281-2. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 117 

'' even admitting tliey have taken up arms," to all 
those who would now join heart and hand to restore 
the Government/ 

On the same day he issued a commission' to Allan 
McDonald, Donald McDonald, Alexander McLeod, 
Donald McLeod, Alexander McLean, Allen Stewart, 
William Campbell, Alexander McDonald and l^eill 
Mc Arthur, Esqs., of the counties of Cumberland and 
Anson ; — John Pile, Esq., of the county of Chatham ; 
William Fields, James Hunter, Robert Fields, Jere- 
miah Fields and Say more York, Esqs., of the county 
of Guilford ; Michael Holt and James Munroe, Esqs., 
of the county of Orange ; Paul Barringer,' of the 
county of Mecklenburg ; AVilliam Spurgian, William 
Bryan, Samuel Bryan and Mathias Sappingfield, 
Esqs., of the county of Rowan ; Gideon Wright and 
James Glynn, Esqs., of the county of Surry, and 
Philemon Hawddns,^ Senior, and Philemon Hawkins,' 
Junior, Esqs., of the county of Bute, authorizing them 
to erect the King's standard and to raise, levy, mus- 
ter, and array in arms all his Majesty's loyal and 
faithful subjects within their respective counties.'' 
They were directed to form the forces so raised into 

^ Am. Arch. 4th Series, vol. iv, p. p. 980-'l. 

'Idem p. p. 981-'2. 

* These gentlemen were sturdy and well-tried Whigs throughout the 
Revolutionary war. Governor Martin may have been misinformed in rela 
tion to them, or may have inserted their names in order to render them 
objects of suspicion, and strip them of their influence among the Whigs. 
The first named was made a prisoner by the tories, and sutfered a long 
confinement within the British lines at Camden, S. C. See Wheeler's 
Histor. Sket., vol. ii, p. 67. For information in relation to the latter, see 
idem, vol. i, pages 59, 78, 86, — vol. ii, p. 426. Similar injustice may possi- 
bly have been done to others. 



118 REVOLUTIONAFwY HISTORY OF N. CAKOLINA. 

companies of fifty men each, and to appoint one cap- 
tain, one lieutenant and one ensign to each com- 
pany. 

Precisely when, where, and to what extent copies 
of the proclamation and commission were dissemina- 
ted, it is of course impossible now to ascertain. On 
the 10th February, 1776, however, John Reynolds, of 
the county of Rowan, made oath that he had heard 
these papers read in the camp of William Fields, " and 
that he heard from the officers and men declared, free 
plunder, wherever they w^ent." Rowan was then a 
frontier county, and the union, it seems, between the 
Highlanders and Regulators was already perfect from 
the sea-coast to the mountains. 

Allan McDonald was the first named in the com- 
mission, but the manifestoes issued by Donald^ 
McDonald, the first without date, the second on the 
6th February, reveal the fact that His Excellency 
Brigadier General Donald McDonald, is commander 
of His Majesty's forces for the time being in ISTorth 
Carolina. These papers, like the former, are shown ^ 
by the same witness to have been read on Tuesday, 
the 5th of February, in FiekFs camp at Dillos by 
William Spurgian.^ 

As early as the 24:th June of the last year, in a let- 
ter from Fort Johnston, to Lewis Henry DeRossett, "^ 
a member of his council. Governor Martin had 
admitted that " nothing but the actual and declared 

* Am. Arch. 4th Series, vol. iv, p. 9S3. 
' Idem, vol. iii, p. 8. 



BRrnsFi iNVASiox IX 1776. 119 

rebellion of the King's subjects, and the failure of all 
other means to maintain the King's government would 
justify the giving encouragement to slaves to revolt 
against their masters." Tliis actual and declared re- 
bellion now existed, and on the second of December, 
John Hancock, the President of the Continental Con- 
gress, notified Gen. Washington that Lord Dunmore 
had erected the royal standard at Is orfolk, proclaimed 
martial law, oflfered freedom to the negroes, and invi-' 
them to join him. * To one hundred and twenty reg- 
ular troops. Lord Dunmore joined a number of tories 
and negroes with his force, he marched to the Great 
Bridge in the County of l^ansemond where he 
entrenched himself, waiting the success of emmissa- 
ries whom he had sent into the district of Edenton, 
to tempt the slaves in the northern counties to seek 
refuge under the royal standard, with the hope of 
freedom.^ 

Tlie Blue Kidge was at this time the dividing line be- 
tween ]N"orth Carolina and the Cherokees. The tribe 
was represented by Col. Drayton as numbering more 
than t-^o thousand warriors ; John Stuart was the royal 
agent and Alexander Cameron his principal deputy. 
A letter from the latter to General Gage, ' intercepted 
in June, 1775, states that Stuart's interest with tlie 
Indians was much greater, and that he was more be-' 
loved by them than any other man. Tl-ie writer re- 
marks, nevertheless, that he had the vanity to sup- 

* Am. Arch. vol. iv, p. 153. 
3 Martin's N. C. vol. ii, p. 3S0. 
'Am. Ar. 4th series, vol. ii, p. 112. 



120 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

pose that he could himself head any number he thought 
proper, whenever called upon, in support of his Ma- 
jesty's government. Both these persons were Scotch- 
men, and their names are found among some of the 
most influential Highlanders upon the Cape Fear. 
Before the middle of August, substantial evidence 
was afforded that Cameron's was no empty boast? 
tlioughthe storm did not burst upon the frontiers until 
the 5th June in the following year. 

At the time, then, that Governor Martin issued his 
Proclamation declaring the existence of an unnatural 
rebellion within the province, and dispatched his 
commission to leading men, in a continuous chain of 
counties, from Cumberland to Eowan, urging them 
to erect the royal standard, and meet him«at Bruns- 
wick, on the 15th February; — Lord Dunmore was in 
force upon our northern border ; — Sir Henry Clinton, 
destined' to the chief command with the Mercury, 
King Fisher, two or three tenders and four companies 
of troops was on his way from Xew York ; Lord Wil- 
liam Campbell, in the Syren, was expected from South 
Carolina, and Sir. Peter Parker, had sailed from 
Portsmouth wdth a squadron of two frigates, eight 
sloops, a schooner, and a bomb-ketch, w^ith seven reg- 
iments of troops on board, under the command of 
Lord Cornwallis. Tlie train was laid, and it would 
seeifi that Governor Martin had merely to apply the 
match and kindle a cWd^ a savage and a servile war 
from Virginia to South Carolina, from the Atlantic to 
the Alleghanies. 

Had no unforeseen causes occurred to defeat the op- 



BKITISH INVASION IN 1775. 121 

eration of this well planned campaign, tlie early sub- 
jugation of JSTorth Carolina, and of all the Southern 
States would, humanly speaking, seem to have been in- 
evitable. But there is a God that ruleth in the affairs 
of men. Sir Henry Clinton, commander-in-chief, did 
not clear the capes of Yirginia until the 26th Febru- 
ry. A six weeks' voyage would have placed ~ Lord 
Cornwallis upon our shores, by the day appointed for 
the rendezvous of the Regulators, and the Highland- 
ers at Brunswick. But the season was stormy, the 
voyage a long one, and Admiral Parker, did not arrive 
at the mouth of Cape Fear until the beginning of May. 
Five years thereafter, in the month of February, 1781, 
a sudden rise of the waters, first in the Yadkin and 
next in the Dan, twice saved the retreating army of 
Greene from the same Cornwallis. He led from Ire- 
land on this occasion, a more powerful army than that 
with which he won the fatal triumph, the victorious 
defeat at Guilford. 

But in the mean time the battle of Moore's creek 
liad been fought. It is not my purpose to refer, ex- 
cept in general terms, to the events of the battle-field. 
The pen of English history has never been guided by 
an abler or more impartial hand than that of Edmund 
Burke, and his brief account, evidently framed from 
materials, at tha^t time inaccessible to any one on this 
side of the Atlantic, is the most comprehensive and 
accurate that has fallen under mv observation.^ 

Tlie consequences of this victory have, from causes 

' See Appendix D. 



122 KKVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROIJNA. 

rendered I trust sufficiently obvious by the preceding 
narrative, never been duly appreciated. The State 
and tlie nation owe a debt of gratitude to tlie victori- 
ous leaders, Caswell, Lillington and Moore, which will 
be more clearly comprehended and deeply felt in sub- 
sequent times than at present. Strange to say, even f 
the official accounts, though on file in the Secretary's 
office, have to this day never been printed in the 
State of Is orth Carolina. The brief despatch of Cas- 
well, and a considerable extract from the report of 
Moore, maybe found in the fifth volume of the Amer- 
ican Archives.* But there is no other work, to which 
I am able to direct the attention of the enquirer, for 
the official report of this brilliant achievement. In- 
deed, it is supposed that an entire copy of General 
Moore's letter has never until now been printed. 

That our troops should have gained a victory at all, 
under the circumstances in which the parties were plac- 
ed, was upon all ordinary principles of calculation most 
extraordinary. The entire force under the command of 
Caswell and Lillington did not exceed a thousand mili- 
tia and minute men. Burke states that the royal force 
was estimated at from fifteen hundred to three thousand 
and that the latter number was admitted by the com- 
manding general after his defeat. Stedman the com- 
missary of Lord Cornwallis, who accompanied him in 
the campaigns of 1780 and '81, estimates ^[cDonald's 
force at eighteen hundred. Neither Caswell norJJl- 
lingtonhad seen previous service. McDonald and ^fc- 

V 
* Sec Appendix E. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1TT6. 123 

Leod were veteran soldiers, had fonglit with reputation 
at Culloden, and must from this cause have had strong 
claims upon tlie admiration and affection of their coun- 
trymen. The dreaded claymore of the Highlander, and 
the unerring rifle of the mountaineer, were in the 
hands of men tliirsting for renown and for vengeance. 
Flora McDonald, her husband at the regiment, and 
her only son, a lad of seventeen, a captain, is under- 
stood to have urged her countrymen to the field. Sted- 
man attributes the fortunes of the day to the extraor- 
dinary energy and skill exhibited by the provincial 
commander and " great division in the councils of the 
loyalists." ' 

Allan McDonald it will be remembered was the 
first named in the commission to erect the royal stan- 
dard, while not only Donald McDonald, but Col. 
McLeod took precedence in the field. Can it be that 
the preference of the new comers over the old settlers, 
the immediate friends of the pretender, and the hus- 
band of Flora, gave rise to this fatal dissension?^ 
General McDonald was not in the action, but confin- 
ed to his bed witli dangerous illness at a house eight 
miles distant. McLeod, the actual commander, fell 
while rushing impetuously at the head of the column, 
at the first fire. 

'American "War, vol. i, p. 180. 

* It is stated on the authority of Sir Walter Scott, that the McDonalds 

r 

always laid claim to be placed on the right of the whole clans, and that 
those of that tribe assigned the breach of this order at Culloden, as one 
cause of the loss of the day. The McDonalds placed on the left wing, re- 
fused to charge and positively left the field unassailed and unbroken. — 
Boswell's Johnson, vol. i, p. 472. — note. 



124: KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

The victory was not only decisive but overwhelm- 
ing : fifteen hundred rifles, all of them excellent pieces ; 
three hundred and fifty guns and shot bags ; one hun- 
dred and fifty swords and dirks ; two medicine chests 
immediately from England, one valued at three hun- 
dred pounds sterling, thirteen waggons with complete 
sets of horses, a box of Johannes and English guineas, 
amounting to fifteen thousand pounds sterling, and 
eight hundred and fifty common soldiers, were among 
the trophies of the field.' 

In addition to the highland chieftains. Col. Tliomas 
Eutherford of Cumberland, Capt. John Piles, the un- 
fortunate victim of Lee and Pickens, in 1781, and 
four persons of the name of Fields of the county of 
Guilford, all of them familiar as persons authorized to 
erect the royal standard in their respective counties, 
were among the prisoners. 

The victory was won on the 27th February. On 
the 5th March the provincial council, communicated 
Col. Caswell's letter, written the day after the battle, 
to the President of the continental Congress. The 
council after stating the measures which had been 
adopted to secure the pei"sons and estates of the ring- 
leaders among the Highlanders and the Regulators, 
take occasion to assure the Continental Congress that 
they have every thing to hope from the vigilance, skill 
and activity of the officers and the patriotism and 
courage exhibited by the men upon this occasion, that 
a noble ardour pervaded all classes, insomuch, that in 
less than a fortnight, nine thousand and four hundred 
men and vp wards were embodied and on their march 

^Am. Ar. 4tb series, vol. v, p. 63. 



BPwiTisii INVASION IX 1770. 125 

to meet the enemy, and that more miglit have been 
raised if it had been necessary/ 

Tlie following extract of a letter from a gentleman 
in North Carolina, dated April 17th, 1776, (probably 
a misprint for the 7th,) may be found in the 5th vol. 
3d series of the American Archives, p. 959. 

" I arrived here after a tedious journey. As I came 
through Yirginia^ I tound the inhabitants desi- 
rous to be independent from Britain. However, they 
were willing to submit their opinion on the subject to 
whatever the general Congress should determine. 
North Carolina by far exceeds them, occasioned by 
the great fatigue, trouble and danger the people here 
have undergone for some time past. Gentlemen of 
the first fortune in the province have marched as 
common soldiers ; and to encourage and give spirit to 
the men, have footed it the Vvdiole time. Lord Corn- 
wallis with seven regiments is expected to visit us 
every day. Clinton is now in Cajpe Fear with Gov. 
Martin^ who has about forty sail of vessels, armed 
and unarmed, waiting his arrival. Tlie Highlanders 
and Regulators are not to be trusted. Gov. Martin 
has coaxed a number of slaves to leave their masters 
in the lower parts ; every thing base and wicked is 
practised by him. These things have wholly changed 
the temper and disposition of the inhabitants, that are 
friends to liberty, all regard or fondness for the King 
or nation of Britain is gone ; a total separation is 
what they want. Independence is the word most 

* American Ar. p. 60. 



126 UEVOLUTIONAKT HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

used. They ask if it is possible, that any colony after 
what has passed can wish for a reconciliation ? The 
convention have tried to get the opinion of the peo- 
ple at large. I am told that in many counties there 
was not one dissenting voice. Four more battallions 
are directed to he raised which will make six in the 
province." 

Within five days from the expression of these opin- 
ions, viz : on the 12tli of April, the Provincial Con- 
gress, resolved nnanimously, " that the delegates for 
this colony in the Continental Congress be empowered 
to concur with the delegates of the other colonies in 
declaring independency and forming foreign allian- 
ces." ' On tlie followinc; dav it was " resolved that 
the thanks of this Congress be given to Col. Eicliard 
Caswell and the brave officers and soldiers under his 
command, for the very essential service by them ren- 
dered this country at the battle of Moore's Creek. 

Admiral Parker arrived about the first of May. 
On the fifth Sir ITcnry Clinton issued his proclama- 
tion, from on board tlie Pallas, declaring tliat a rebel- 
lion existed, denouncing all committees, and con- 
gresses, but offering free pardon to all who wonld lay 
down their arms and submit to the laws, excepting 
only Cornelius Harnett and liobert Howe.* 

On the following Sunday, between two and three 
o'clock in the morning, nine hundred troops under 
tlie connnand of Lord Cornwallis, landed upon the 
plantation of General Howe, in the county of Bruus- 

' Americiin Arch. vol. v, p. 1322. 

'American Arch. 5ih sjeriee, vol i. ,p. i-'.T. . 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1770. 127 

wick, and were foiled in an attempt to surprise Major 
Davis stationed at the mill at Orton, wdth about one 
hundred and fifty militia. They burned the mill, ra- 
vaged General Howe's plantation, carried off a few 
bullocks and returned to their transports with the 
loss of two men killed, a prisoner and several wound- 
ed. Governor Martin was received on board the 
iiag sliip of the squadron, and this powerful arnia- 
nient irom which so much had l)ecn expected, was by 
the close of the month under way to ex2:)erience fur- 
ther disappointments * and more signal disasters in 
South Carolina.' 

lliat the plan of this campaign in all its details 
liad been prepared and suggested by Governor Mar- 
tin may be fairly inferred from the evidence before 
us. The extent to wliich lie may jusily be consider- 
ed responsible for its failure, it is not in the present 
state of our historical information so easy to deter- 
mine. Why Vv ere the Eegulators required to traverse 
the State from the mountains to the Seaboard and 
rendezvous with the Highlanders at Brunswick? — 
AVith a strong naval force at tlie mouth of the Cape 
Fear, the great central river of the State, Sir Henry 
Clinton might have advanced into the interior, with 
an absolute certainty of receivings large accessions to 
liis numbers at every stage of his progress. Tlie 
AVhigs were comparatively numerous on the Tloanoke, 



^ Am. Arch. 4th serie.s vol. vi., p. 4.^2. See letlers of Lord Dartmouth to 
General Howe, Sept. 15th, 1775, American Ar., vol. iii., 4th series, p. 7li.. 
Oct. 2£d, p. 1,1 r>5, and Nov. Slh, p. 1,400. 



128 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

tlio Tar and the Neuse, and tlie counties between the 
Catawba and the Yadkin were the most rebellious in 
America, but there is no doubt that from this time 
down to the close of the Revolution a decided major- 
ity of the population between the Pedee and Cape 
Fear, in North and in South Carolina, from the Sea- 
board to the mountains, was disaifected.^ The inti- 
mation of Governor Martin, of a willingness. in any 
extremity to arm the slaves against their masters, ex- 
cited a storm of indignation which drove him from 
the Palace to seek shelter under the guns of Fort 
Johnston. The allegation of a similar threat, by Cap- 
tain Collet, the commander of the garrison, reduced 
both of them to the necessity of hastening to an arm- 
ed vessel in the river, and thev were scarcelv on, 
board when the dismantled fortress Avas reduced to 
ashes " The Governor may liave supposed that some 
imposing demonstration of power was necessary to 
redeem him from the obloquy incident to ignomini- 
ous flight. A triumphant restoration to his authority 
upon the part of the citizens of the province, with a 
squadron of fifty vessels on the coast, in the presence 
of the numerous and well appointed army command- 
ed by Sir Henry Clinton, he may well have suppos- 
ed, would exert a«great moral influence, not merely 
in j^ortli Carolina, but throughout the continent. The 
defeat of McDonald dispelled' this glorious illusion. — • 
The astounding fact, asserted by th(i provincial Con- 

* University Magazine, vol. i, p. 184. 

* Martiu's N. C, vol. ii, p. p. 35^5. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 129 

^es8 and admitted by Eurke, that the province pre- 
viously considered so weak and so divided, was able 
in less than a fortnight to bring ten thousand men 
into the field/ may have lost Governor Martin, the 
confidence of Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis, 
and induced them to yield to the importunities of Lord 
William Campbell and direct their energies to the 
sister province of South Carolina, as a more promis- 
ing field for adventure. 

Judge Martin, the historian of North Carolina, com- 
putes the population of the Province at this time, at 
one hundred and fifty thousand, one-fifth of whom were 
slaves, and the population of ISTew Berne, the most 
populous town, at six hundred.* It is evidently an 
under estimate. It has not been usual for writers, 
at home or abroad, in ancient or modern times, to 
overrate us. Even the framers of the Constitution 
in 1787, assigned us five members in the House of 
Representatives and gave the same number to South 
Carolina. The census of 1790, placed us in the rela- 
tive ratio of eight to five. Our aggregate population 
was probably two hundred and ten thousand ; of these, 
seventy thousand may have been slaves. The number 
of free white males, between the ages of sixteen and 
fifty, including tories, quakers and other non-combat- 
ants, was less than tKirty-five thousand. Sir Henry 
Clinton might well distrust the hopes of Governor 
Martin, and retire cautiously from a people, whose 

» Ann. Reg. 1776, p. p. 156-8. 
' Vol. ii, p. S95. 

9 



130 RKVOLHTIONArwY HISTORY OF N. CAROT.INA. 

Committee at Mecklenbrfrg had declared tlie entire 
dissolution of the laws, government and constitution, 
in language surpassing all the horrid and treason- 
able publications that the inflammatory spirits of the 
Continent had yet produced ; whose Provincial Con- 
gress, in anticipation of all the other States, hacf 
declared for independence, and nearly one-third of 
whose fighting men were already in the field, flushed 
with victory and anxious for more decisive combat. 

Governor Martin probably availed himself most re- 
luctantly of Admiral Parker's invitation to accom- 
pany him in the Flag ship of the retii-ing squadron. 
However this may have been, a train of subsequent 
events shows that he had no idea of yielding up his 
government to ungrateful rebels. A very brief ref- 
erence to the leading incidents in his subsequent ca- 
reer will close our notice of him and of our subject. 
Where he was, or how employed during the five years 
which succeeded his departure from our coast, about 
the last of May, 1776, we have not at present the 
means of ascertaining. In the intervening period a 
sad change had come over the affairs of North Caro- 
lina and the entire South. 

At the very moment the enemy was menacing us 
with invasion, on our southern borders, Howe, with 
one of our battalions, was assisting in driving Lord 
Dunmore from Virginia. The very first letter re- 
ceived by Governor Caswell, on his accession to ofiice, 
was a very brief dispatch from Governor Rutledge, 
dated 6th November, 1776, imploring immediate aid 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 131 

in behalf of South Carolina.' In the following year 
the heroic l^ash fell at Germantown. In March, 1779, 
General Ashe, at the head of a large body of our 
militia, sustained disastrous defeat at Brier Creek, in 
Georgia. On the 20th February, General Lincoln re- 
tired from the seige of Savannah, and on the 12th 
May, 1780, surrendered our continental battalions and 
a thousand militia at Charleston.* Tlie two great 
commercial marts in the South were now British gar- 
risons, and the States of Georgia and South Carolina 
conquered provinces. Lord Cornwallis at the head 
of a gallant army, but inferior in numbers to that 
which accompanied him to our shores in 1776, now 
proceeded to the second invasion of Korth Carolina. 
Tlie premonitory symptoms of his approach soon be- 
gan to be exhibited within our borders. 

On the 9th of June, as we learn from Gen. Gra- 
ham's account of the battle of Bamsour's Mills, John 
Moore, a native of the county of Try on, who had left 
the neighborhood the preceeding w- inter, returned and 
announced himself to his old friends as Lieut. Col. 
of the North Carolina regiment of loyalists, comman- 
ded by Col. John Hamilton. A few days afterwards 
Nicholas Welch made his appearance, clad in rich 
British uniform, and well supplied with British gold. 
They were directed to enlist as many men as possible, 
but not to embody them until after harvest. Either 
because they were too impetuous themselves, or una- 

> Caswell's Letter Book, p. 1. 

* University Magazine, vol. ii, p. 101. CaaweU's Letter Book. 



132 KEVOLIJTION^VRY HISTOKT OF N. CAKOLIN-A. 

ble to restrain the too zealous loyalty of the neigh- 
borhood, by the 20th about one thousand three hun- 
dred tories were encamped at Ramsour's Mill, and 
ready to take the field.* Farther reference to their 
history is not necessary to our purpose. 

Colonel Hamilton, wliose original residence as we 
have seen, was at Halifax, on the 27th August, 1777, 
solicited and obtained a passport from Governor Cas- 
well to go from Hillsborough to New York.* The 
next information we have of him, he is at the head 
of a North Carolina regiment of loyalists under the 
command of Lord Cornwallis. Where he had been 
in the mean time, or where and when he had enlisted 
his troops we have no certain information. 

Tarleton states that the defeat of Moore at Ram- 
sour's " encouraged a spirit of persecution, which made 
Colonel Bryan, another loyalist, who had promised to 
wait for orders, lose all patience, and forced him to 
move with eight hundred men, from the forks of the 
Yadkin towards the nearest British post. After many 
difficulties he fortunately reached the seventy-first 
regiment stationed in the Cheraws."' 

*0n the 16th August, Lord Cornwallis informed 
8ir Henry Clinton that " our assurances of attachment 
from our distressed friends in North Carolina are as 
strong as ever. And the patience and fortitude with 
which these unhappy people bear the most oppressive 

' Vol. ii. Wheeler's Hist. Sket. p. 227 to 232. 

• Caswell's Letter Book. 

• See Appendix F. 

• Campaigns of 1780-81, p. lU. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1775. 133 

and cruel tyranny, that ever was exercised over any 
country, deserve our greatest admiration." In the 
official account of the victory obtained at Camden on 
the 16th, he records the fact that on this occasion, 
" Governor Martin became again a military man and 
behaved with the spirit of a young volunteer.'" Sam- 
uel Bryan who led the eight hundred men from the 
forks of the Yadkin, was one of the persons named in 
the commission issued by Governor Martin on the 
10th January, 1776, and authorized to raise men in 
Kowan, and march then to Brunswick. 

Much the ablest and most indefatigable instrument 
in the hands of the Governor was Major Patrick Fer- 
guson, a native of Scotland and son of Lord Pitfour, 
one of the Lords of Session. At the time he was killed 
he was about thirty-seven years of age, of middle 
size and slender frame, with a thoughtful and serious 
expression of countenance. Burke remarks that " he 
was perhaps the best marksman living, and probably 
brought the art of rifle-sliooting to its highest perfec- 
tion." He had invented a rifle which in facility of 
loading, and in execution was a great improvement 
upon those previously used. General Washington ia 
supposed to have owed his life at Germantown to 
Ferguson's ignorance of his person, as he had him 
completely within the range of his rifle.'' 

Ferguson's great quality however, was tact and 
patience in the management and training of militia. 



' Campaigns of 1780-'81, p. 128. 
•Ann. Reg. 1781, p. p. 51, 52. 



134 REVOLUTIONAKY inSTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

In addition to his exact skill in discipline it was nat- 
ural to him to attract and retain the affection of his 
men. He would sit for hours and converse with the 
country people and point out the ruinous consequen- 
ces which would ensue to the leaders of the rebellion 
and to the country. The effects of this condescension 
and familiarity were manifest wherever he wx^nt.' His 
defeat and fall were fatal to the second attempt to in- 
vade [N^orth Carolina. Had he been the leader of 
the British forces at Moore's Creek, or had he been 
able to maintain his position at King's Mountain, and 
been placed as he probably would have been, at the 
head of the militia, in the impending invasion, very 
important consequences might have resulted. His 
Scotch birth would have recommended him to the 
Highlanders, and he had by nature all the qualities 
that were requisite to ensure ascendency over the 
Kegulators. 

Preparatory to the third invasion of North Carolina, 
Major James H. Craig, an able and experienced 
officer, subsequently Governor General of Canada, 
was directed to occupy Wilmington. With a detach- 
ment of about three hundred men from the eighty 
first regiment, and a small naval armament under the 
command of Captain Barclay, he summoned the town 
to surrender and received an unconditional submission 
on the 29th January, 1781.' On the first of Februa- 
ry, Lord Cornwallis crossed tlie Catawba, and on the 

» Political Magazine. Feb, 1781, p. 60.— Id. March, p. 125. 
•Political Magazine, March, 1781, p. p. 223-'4- 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 135 

20tli took possession of Ilillsboro', the temporary seat 
of government. A proclamation was immediately 
issued inviting the loyalists to come in, but no one 
was permitted to enter the lines unless introduced by 
James Monroe, one of the persons named in tlie com- 
mission five years before, to erect the royal standard. 
On the 22d, the arni}^ was drawn up and the royal 
standard displayed under the supervision of his 
lordship.' The horrible slaughter of the tories hasten- 
ing to the standard, under the command of Colonel 
Piles, occurred three days thereafter. In the official 
report, made on the JTtli, of the victory gained at 
Guilford, on the 15 th of March, Cornwall is bears 
cheerful testimony that " he has constantly received 
the most zealous assistance from Governor Martin 
during his command in the southern district. Hoping 
that his presence would tend to excite the loyal sub- 
jects of this province to talce an active part with us, 
he has cheerfully submitted to the dangers and fatigues 
of (%r campaign. But his delicate constitution has 
suffered by his public spirit, for he is now obliged to 
return to England for the recovery of his health." ' 
Tliis design however, as will be perceived in due time, 
was deferred until a later period. 

Lord Cornwallis, after this Pyrrhian victory, was 
compelled by the necessities of his position, mainly 
by the impossibility of procuring sustenance for his 
army, to retire towards Wilmington. At Cross Creek, 
Tarleton informs us, that notwithstanding the cruel per- 

» Cornwallis' Order Book, MSS. 
* Tarleton's Campaigns, p. 324. 



136 REVOLUTIONARY KISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

eecutions the inhabitants had constantly endured, for 
their partiality to the British, they yet retained great 
zeal for the interest of the royal army. All the flour 
and spirits in the neighborhood were brought to the 
camp, and the wounded officers and soldiers were re- 
freshed by many conveniences, for the want of which 
they had previously suffered. Among the former, was 
the brave and accomplished Lieutenant Colonel Wil- 
son Webster.* lie was wounded at Guilford, but no 
serious consequences were apprehended until some 
time afterwards. He too was a Scotchman, and son 
of the licvcrend Dr. Webster of Edinburg. To the 
gallantry and professional knowledge of the soldier, 
he united all the virtues of civil life, and of the brave 
and skillful officers who served imder Cornwallis du- 
ring his three expeditions in J^Torth Carolina, with the 
exception of Major Ferguson, no one was probably so 
well qualified as he to lead forth a united army of High- 
landers and Eegulators. He was wounded in the re- 
gion occupied by the latter, but died and was bvfried 
among his countrymen, at Elizabeth in Bladen. Corn- 
wallis turned mournfully and despondingly from hi8 
grave ; and on the 7th of April, occupied a camp in 
the neii]rhborhood of Wilmin<2:ton. 

On the ISth, the Earl writes from Wilminojton to 
Lord George Germain, as follows : " As Governor 
Martin returns to England by this opportunity, I shall 
beg leave to refer your Lordship to him for many 
particulars relative to this province. But I think it 

* Campaigns, p, 281. 



BKITI8II INVASION IN 177C. 137 

incumbent on me to be explicit to your Lordship on 
one or two capital points. 

The principal reasons for undertaking tlie winter's 
campaign were the difficulties of a defensive war in 
South Carolina, and the hope that our friends in Nortli 
Carolina, who were said to be very numerous, would 
make good their promises of assembling and taking an 
active part with us in endeavoring to re-establish his 
Majesty's government. Our experience has shown that 
their numbers are not so great as had been represented, 
and that their friendship was only passive, for we have 
received little assistance from them since ^^e arrived 
in the province, and although I gave the strongest 
and most public assurances, that after refitting and 
depositing our sick and wounded, I should return to 
the upper country, not above two hundred have been 
prevailed upon to follow us either as provincials or 
militia." ' 

It is thus, that from April 177G, to April 1781, 
glimpses of Governor Martin are revealed to us. But 
his mission is now closed and he retires behind the 
scenes to re-appear no more forever.' 

Pie now probably concurred in opinion with the 
Earl, that the strength of the disaffected had been 
greatly over estimated, and that no reasonable hope 
remained of the restoration of the missing jewels to 
the British crown. lie was in Wilmington again— 
quantum mutatus ah illo ! Broken in health and 

* Campaigns, p. 324. 
'See Appendix 6. 



138 RKVOLUnONAKY HISTOlir OF N. CAROLIJ^A. 

spirits, separated from liis family, what a train of re- 
membrances^ must have crowded upon him during 
his brief sojourn amidst the scenes of vanished pomp 
and power. ALas, the commercial emporium and 
the State, durino; these five vears had under^-onc 
changes and reverses, not less striking and scarcely 
less sad. Xo human imagination can conceive, no 
pencil portray the fearful reality of our condition 
hi '81. 

In '76, at less than a fortnight's notice, ten thousand 
men from the Virginia boundary on the north, from 
the middle counties and from the western mountains, 
were on the march to drive the invaders from our 
southern border. In August '81, Major Craig with 
four hundred Ilegulars, and about the same number 
of Tories, ravaged the country between the Cape 
Fear and the JS^euse, took possession of ]^ew Berne 
on the 20th, and in due time returned without serious 
loss, to his post at Wilmington.' Howe was with his 
brigade at the I^ortli, Moore was dead, Ashe and 
Harnett were Major Craig's prisoners. Caswell and 
Lillington were in the field, the former conmiander- 
in-chief of the militia of the State,"* but where were 
the men they led at Moore's Creek ? — dead, dispersed, 
dispirited or disaffected. 

Governor Xash had refused to submit to a re-elec- 
tion at the hands of the General Assembly which con- 
vened, as the record imforms us, "in the county of 

• 

^General William Caswell to Governor Burke; in Goveruor Burke's 
Letter Book. General Lillington to the same. 
= Pamph. Acta, April 1780, Chap. 2G, Sec. 10. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 139 

Wake on the day of June, 1781."' His succes- 
sor, Governor Burke, entered upon the duties of the 
office on the 24th. Nine days previous, Fanning had 
entered Pittsborough and carried the officers of the 
county and the court into captivity. On the 5th of 
August he captured Colonel Alston and his followers 
on Deep River, on the 14th Cambleton was in his 
power, on the 1st of September he defeated Colonel 
Wade at McFall's Mills. On the 13th McXeill and 
Fanning took possession of Hillsborough, seized Go- 
vernor Burke and suite, and retiring as suddenly 
as they had approached, delivered him to Major 
Craig, by w^hom he was committed to close confine- 
ment as a prisoner of State.' In this emergency, 
Alexander Martin, the speaker of the Senate, succeed- 
ed to the helm of State — the third Governor during 
this disastrous year. He held the office until the re- 
turn of Governor Burke from captivity, in February, 
1782. 

It is obvious that during the occupancy of Wil- 
mington by Major Craig, his po^yer was dominant 
from the Cape Fear to the Neuse, from Brunswick 
to Orange. Shortly before the surrender of Corn- 
wallis at Yorktown, General Rutherford with one 
thousand four hundred men, three hundred and fifty 
of whom were cavalry, marched from Salisbury to 
the relief of the Cape Fear. On the 15th of Octo- 
ber his advanced guard routed a small band of Tories 

» Nash to Burke, MSS. 

' Governor Burke to Willie Jones. Letter Book. 



140 REYOLUTIONAKY UISTOEY OF N. CAROLINA. 

under McNeill, at Rocklisli. About the 1st of No- 
vember he reached Wilmington, and established his 
head quarters at Mr. Hill's, whom he found to be 
" the only active whig," and who had suffered more 
at the hands of the enemy than any one then in town. 
Major Craig retired on Rutherford's approach; liis 
vessels were still visible on the flats, but on the se- 
cond day tliereafter, they left our coasts. ^ 

There was no longer an invading enemy. Tlierc 
was civil war nevertheless, waged with bitterness, 
cruelty and destruction of life and property without 
a parallel in any other portion of the confederacy. 
"What Attila and his hordes were in their day, were 
Fanning and his confederates at this time in North 
Carolina — the scourge of God ! Tarleton, who looked 
with unusual composure upon such scenes, seems to- 
have been startled by the state of things around him. 
lie copies an extract from a letter written at General 
Greene's head quarters on Deep river, dated March 
30th, 17S1 : "Nothing but blood and slaughter has 
prevailed among the whigs and tories, and their in- 
veteracy against each other must, if it continues, 
depopulate this country." " The butchery of Colonel 
Balfour and others, accompanied w^ith acts of savage 
barbarity towards the feebler sex, was perpetrated in 
this immediate neighborhood just a year thereafter, in 
March, 1782. 

The last act passed at the General Assembly, which 

' University Magazine, vol. i, p. p. 182-194. 
'Campaigns, p. 321. 



EltmSII INVASION IN 177o. 141 

adjourned on the 12t]i May, 1782, (chap, xlvi.) recites 
that '' from the kxrge number of disaifected persons 
living in the county of Bladen, joined by a consider- 
able number of disaft'ected persons in South Carolina, 
it 'is dangerous for the citizens of said county, to 
attend public meetings without arms," and therefore 
requires all persons attending courts, elections, and 
other public meetings to carry their guns, with at least 
six rounds of amnmnition, to repel any sudden attack 
of the enemy. 

Times of danger are inevitably times of scarcity 
and privation. Tlic pages of Tarleton and Stedman 
abound in evidence of the nakedness which the 
devastations of the invading army, and the ruthless 
civil war had every where produced. 

Cornwallis' defence of his retiring from Hillsboro^ 
in February, 1781, before the Say designated in his 
proclamation as the last on which the friends of the 
crown might find refuge under the royal standard, 
rests npon the averment that sustenance for his army 
could not be obtained at that point. Stedman, the 
commissary and historian, states that after sending a 
great distance for cattle, and exhausting the scanty 
supply, much murmuring was excited among the loy- 
alists, by slaughtering the draught oxen, and tliat 
he was at last driven to the necessity of providing 
means of subsistence, at the head of a file of soldiers, 
by possessing himself of such salted beef and pork, 
and live hogs as could be found among the inhabi- 
tants of the town.' 

' Stedman's American War, rol. ii. p. S35. 



112 KKVOLUTIONAKY IIISTORT OF N. CAROLINA. 

General Graham informs us that Major Craig, on 
taking possession of Wilmington, ordered large sup- 
plies of salt from Charleston. This indispensable ne- 
cessary could be obtained nowhere else, and too many 
bartered their political principles to obtain it. In 
llowan and Mecklenburg the price was from $8 to 
$10 per bushel, or in barter a four years old steer. 
When Itutherford entered Wilmington, he seized upon 
the supplies left by the enemy, and the effects of the 
disafiected. Wlien his troops were mustered out of 
service, his men were allowed to draw a bushel of 
salt each, and this, the same authority assures us, was 
of more value than the auditor's certificate, for all the 
services rendered during the campaign.' 

Tiie Legislature of 1777, to meet the expenses of the 
war, imposed a tax o^ half a penny on the pound vaL 
ue of lands, lots, houses, slaves, money at interest, 
gtock in trade, hoi*ses and cattle, and a poll tax of four 
shillings on all persons worth less than £100, in lieu 
(»f a property tax. Tlie range of taxation, it will be 
percei\'ed, was more comprehensive than the system 
adopted four years ago, and horses and cattle, no in- 
considerable item at present, constituted Tt much larger 
])roportion of the aggregate wealth of the communi- 
ty then, than now. The rate per cent, was between 
three and four times as great as it is at present.' 

In 1782, horses and mules under a year old, were 
ex'c?mpted from taxation, and the poll tax on white 

' University Magazine, vol. i. p. 184. 
* PamphWl acta, 1777, chap, ii, p. 17. 



>%/ 



Biimsn INVASION IN 1776. 143 

males confined to unmarried men, not in military ser- 
vice and over twenty-one years of age.' Male adults, 
it would seem, must either fight or marry ; decrease 
the number of public enemies, or multiply the ranks 
of friends.^ There was no sanctuary for a coward ; 
the legislature might tax, but the young ladies in 
those days would not marry a man who would not 

tight.' ' 

While the range of taxation was modified, the rate 
percent, was doubled and was more than equal to 
seven times the amount of that imposed at present. 
TIow much more burthensome it must have been in 
the then impoverished condition of the country, who 
among us is able to estimate or to realize? Quakers 
and other non-combatants were required to pay treble 
this rate of taxation, and this our fathers considered 
toleration ; for they had solenndy asserted in the 
Declaration of Eights, that all nien have a natural 
and unalienable right to worship Almiglity God ac- 
cording to the dictates of their own consciences. 

To mitigate as greatly as possible the severity of 
this imposition, it was provided that one-half the 
amount of each assessment might be paid in specific 
articles, necessary to the sustenance of our armies, to 
be delivered at designated depots. Corn was received 
at thirty-three and one-third cents, wheat forty-three 
and three-fourths and clean rice at eightv-one and 



' Pamphlet acts 1782, chap. 7, p. 17. 

' See "Wheeler's Historical Sketches p. 737, 

' See Appendix H. 



Vlt4: RirVOLUTIONAIlY UISTOEY OF N. CAKOLLNA. 

one-fourtli cents per buslicl. Pork tliree and a half, 
beef two and a half, taUow nine, flour two and one- 
fourth, salt two and three-fourth cents per pound. 
Tobacco three dollars, hemp five dollars sixty-two 
and a half cents per hundred. Salt pork nine dollars 
tliirty-seven and a half cents per barrel. Indigo sev- 
enty-five cents per pound. Yard wide linen (five 
hundred slay) thirty -tiiree and one-third cents, (seven 
liundred) fifty, (one thousand) seventy-five cents per 
yard. The great staple, cotton, is not in the list of enu- 
merated articles. Its manifold production and uses, like 
the steamboat, the railroad locomotive, the magr tic 
todegraph and the caloric engine, were not to be heard 
of, until we should liave beaten our spears into prun- 
ing hooks and learned war no more. 

Onerous as this direct tax may seem to us to have 
been, and as our fathers felt it to be, the imposition 
was light, in comparison with the indirect tax levied 
in the guise of paper currency and bills of credit. It 
is a fact which would be incredible if it were not of 
record, that the public debt created between January, 
1775, and January, 1781, amounted to $76,375,000; 
a sum which a shrewd statesman, in the debates upon 
the Federal ConstitULion, estimated to be treble the 
value of all the property, real and personal, owned by 
all the citizens of the State. The paper currency was 
nevertheless a lawful tender in the payment of debts ; 
it was an indictable offence to refuse to receive it as 
such ; it was declared unpatriotic to speak of it in dis- 
paraging terms, and it was death to counterfeit it. 

The laws of trade, however, founded on the laws of 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1776. 145 

nature are not to be controlled by Imman enactments. 
On the first of January 1777, the paper currency was 
at par ; in 1778, at the rate of three and a half for one ; 
in 1779, six for one ; in 1780, thirty-two for one ; in 
1781, two hundred and ten for one ; and on the first 
of January, 1782, it settled down to eight hundred 
for one, ' at which rate it was redeemed. At this rate 
the whole amount that was issued, was little more in 
value than ninety-five thousand specie dollars. It had 
purchased all the supplies for our armies, neverthe- 
less, and paid all the wages received by our ofiicers 
and soldiers during the seven years' war for independ- 
ence. 

I fear that in this extended detail of incidents con- 
nected with the campaign of 1776, if I have not ex- 
hausted the subject, I have very severely tried the 
patience of the Society. Succeeding the eminent gen- 
tlemen, to whose lectures I referred at the opening, 
mine is the humbler task of attempting to glean 
handsfuil in the fields from which reapers have gar- 
nered tlie sheaves of history. We may well esteem 
ourselves fortunate if our united efibrts shall contrib- 
ute, in any degree, to illustrate the fame of those who, 
in the darkest days of the republic, did every thln^ 
for the country. 

» Pamphlet acts, 1783, ch. 4, p. 10 

10 



BRITISH INVASION 



or 



NORTH CAROLINA, IN 1780, AND 1781, 



A LECTURE. 



BY HON. WM. A. GRAHAM, LL D. 



DELIVERED BEFORE THE NEW-YORK HISTORICAL 
SOCIETY, IN JANUARY, 1868. 



0f ^0rt| tf ar0Hna in 

170, anif 1751. 



Regarding the New York Historical Society as a 
national institution, I have not scrupled to undertake 
the task devolved on me this evening, however con- ' 
Bcious of my inadequacy to its proper fulfilment; 
and a primary object of its establishment being the 
study and dissemination of a correct knowledge of 
American history, the topic on which I propose to 
engage your attention is the British Invasion of North 
Carolina, in 1780 and '81. Having been requested 
to turn my attention to some subject pertaining to 
the history of the Southern States, it was not until 
after the choice of this, and at too late a period to 
prepare on another, that I learned, that a reverend 
and distinguished friend of mine, who has preceded 
me in the series of exercises appointed by the society, 
had made the subject of his discourse another inter- 
esting chapter in the history of North Carolina. With 
earlier information of this fact, I would gladly have 

(149) 



150 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

chosen some other topic, to give greater variety and 
interest to a course of lectures which has thus far 
been so well received by the public. 

The subject is withal common place; but it is the 
story of our ancestors — of their struggles and sacri- 
fices — their freedom and renown. The scene, too, is 
circumscribed, but the actors were personifications 
of principles, and representatives of nations, and up- 
on the close of the drama, depended the fate of an 
empire. If other apology be wanting for the selec- 
tion of this theme, 

"I am native there, 
And to the manor born ;" 

and from occasional access to official documents, as 
well as from the traditions and legends of those whose 
honorable scars bore witness of opportunities, for ac- 
quaintance with some, at least, of the events of that 
period, am impressed with the conviction that from 
want of chroniclers and printing presses in the then 
infant State, at the time of these occurrences, and 
from negligence or accident since, it has not received 
full justice from the pen of history. Let it be re- 
membered, that the period to which we refer, is 1780 
and 1781, more than ^\^ years after the first blood 
ghed in the war of the Ke volution at Lexington, and 
full four years after the National Declaration of In- 
dependence. 

Yet, had North Carolina been no indififerent or 
idle spectator while other States were the theatre of 
war, or in regard to the common cause in the incip- 



BRITISU INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 151 

iency of the contest. As early as the passage of the 
Stamp Act, and down to the breaking out of hostili- 
ties, disputes of a domestic nature, touching the rights 
of creditors in the province, to proceed by attachment 
against the lands of debtors residing in England, and 
the mal-administration of the provincial government, 
had been agitated between the crown (through the 
royal governors) and the people of the colony, which, 
added to the causes of complaint of more general in- 
terest, produced a free discussion of the constitution 
of Great Britain, and sharpened and invigorated the 
public mind in relation to the rights of British sub- 
jects in the colonies. Emboldened in these contro- 
versies, the population were intelligent and acute in 
their comprehension of the issues involved, jealous of 
undue control by the mother country, and ready to 
hazard any consequences in resisting her encroach- 
ments. This was sufficiently attested in the alacrity 
with which she responded to the call for the firet Con- 
tinental Congress, in 1774; in the proceedings of her 
various Provincial Congresses and Councils, prior to 
the establishment of the State government ; and in 
those of her popular assemblies, among which, it may 
be enough to particularize the Wilmington, Cumber- 
land, Kowan and Tryon associations, and the memor- 
able meeting in Mecklenburg, on the 20th of May, 
1775, which declared absolute independence. 

And these prompt and decisive manifestations of 
eentiment had been sustained by military aid, in the 
immediate scenes of danger, in a manner which prov- 
ed that she had no selfish, sectional or exclusive ideas 



152 REVOLU-nONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

of defence and protection. Establishing a thorough 
military organization at the Provincial Congress, 
which assembled in liillsborongh on the 20th of Au- 
gust, 1775, in December of that year an expedition 
was sent under Colonel Howe, for the defence of 
Norfolk and Lower Virginia, against Lord Dunmore, 
the royal Governor of that Province, who, having 
collected a large army of w^hites and negroes, pro- 
claimed martial law, and offered freedom to the ap- 
prentices and slaves of the country. This force, in 
conjunction with a detachment of regulars and Vir- 
ginia troops, under Colonel Woodford, defeated his 
Lordship's army in the battle at Great Bridge, and 
obliged him to abandon l^orfolk and take refuge on 
board a man-of-war in the harbor, as the last royal 
Governor of North Carolina, six months anterior, had 
been obliged to do at Wilmington. 

About the same date, an expedition under Colon ela 
Martin, Polk and Rutherford, marched from the wes- 
tern part of the State against the tories, (called Scovil- 
ites, after the name of a royalist emissary,') in the 
northwestern section of South Carolina; and in con- 
nection with the troops of that State, under Gen- 
eral Pichardson and Colonel Thompson, drove the 
tory commanders, Cunningham and Fletcher, from the 
siege of the village of Ninety-six, and on their retreat, 
surprised and defeg,ted them, with the capture of four 
hundred of their followers. Tliis is known in tradi- 
tion, as the Snow Camp campaign, from the violent 
snow storms with which its camps were visited. 

* Scovil or Sco&l. 



BRrrisu INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 153 

In the Autumn of 1776, a force of nineteen hundred 
men, from the same region, under General Ruther- 
ford, was despatched against the Cherokee Indian?^ 
whohai espoused the British cause, and committed 
depredations on the neighboring settlements, which 
chastised and compelled them to sue for peace. 

In the campaigns of 1776, '77, '78, '79, and '80, she 
furnished her contingents to the continental service 
upon the requisitions of Congress, to meet the com- 
mon enemy in other States; and her militia were 
marched, by divisions, brigades, regiments and bat- 
tallions, to the aid of South Carolina and Georgia ; 
not to mention that the ranks of Sumter and Pickena 
were often filled with her citizens, who took service 
under these famous partisan officers, when those States 
were the seat of war, and were computed among the 
troops of South Carolina. From Kew Jersey to Flor- 
ida, inclusive, there were few battle fields in which a 
portion of the troops engaged in defence of the liber- 
ties of the country were not hers. 

Besides these contributions, however, for military 
operations abroad, a considerable force was required 
for the interior defence and safety of the State. Al- 
though the great mass of the people were true to the 
country, there was no contemptible number who 
maintained their lo^^alty to the crown, and stood ready 
to defend it with arms. Tliis was more conspicuously 
true of a body of Scotch Highlanders, who had emi- 
grated in large numbers to the waters of the Cape Fear 
Hi ver in the incipient stages of the controversy between 
the colonies and the mother country ; and the signal 



154 REVOLUTIONxVRY UISTORY OF N. CAKOLINA. 

victory obtained by Colonels Casweli and Lillington, 
at the bridge of Moore's Creek, one of the AVestern 
tributaries of that river, on the 27th of February^ 
1776, with one thousand men, over the tory forces 
levied in that region, under General McDonald and 
Captain McLeod, numbering fifteen hundred men, 
who were marching to relieve Governor Martin from 
his exile on board an English ship of war at the mouth 
of the Cape Fear, and to bring him back, and restore 
him to his authority in the colony, is one of the proud- 
est events of the war, in that year. Pursued with 
vigor, as this victorj^ was, in capturing prisoners, arms, 
military stores, and munitions of war, it so broke the 
spirit, and destroyed the resources of the enemy in 
the State, and so cheered the hopes of the patriots, 
that its effects were widely and deeply felt. Still, the 
feeling of attachment to the royal cause infected indi- 
viduals, and in many instances pervaded whole neigh- 
borhoods and districts, and required constant vigi- 
lance, determination and energy on the part of the 
authorities and troops of the new government. 

In the spring of 1776, a formidable invasion was 
tlireatened by a military and naval armament, under 
Sir Henry Clinton and Sir Peter Parker, at the mouth 
of the Cape Fear, and a large military force was call- 
ed out to repel it. But its attention was soon directed 
to tlie more tempting prize of Charleston, where, in 
June of that year, occurred the famous repulse which 
has given immortality to the name of Moultrie.' 

' In this defence of Charleston, the American forces were commanded 
b/ Majfir General Charles Lee, and included two brigades of North Cure- 



Burrisn invasion in 1780, and 1781. 155 

Witli the exception of a detachment from this arma- 
ment, which was landed, and committed some depre- 
dations in the county of Brunswick, among which was 
the sacking of the private mansion of the patriot 
General HoAve, no British force had entered the terri- 
tory of North Carolina until thef period announced in 
the outset of these remarks — the latter half of the 
year 1780. 

But, although the geographical position of the State, 
or the military plans of the enemy, had thus long de- 
layed his visit, he now came with a prestige of suc- 
cess which threatened entire subjugation. South 
Carolina and Georgia had been overrun and con- 
quered, and their patriot citizens driven to conceal- 
ment, exile, or submission to his victorious arms. 
Charleston had fallen on the 12th of May. Improving 
his success wdth the skill of a veteran commander, 
Lord Cornwallis moved forward at once to Camden, 
near the centre of the State; and on the 29th of that 
month, his light troops, under Lieutenant Colonel 
Tarleton, overwhelmed and massacred a Virginia reg- 
iment under Colonel Buford, at Waxhaw Creek, near 
the frontiers of North Carolina. On the 16th of 
August, in a pitched battle near Camden, he had sig- 
nally defeated and routed the main army, which had 

lina continental troops, under Generals Robert Howe and James Moore* 
The latter was the brother of Maurice Moore, a colonial judge, and an un- 
cle of Alfred Moore, subsequently an associate Justice of the Supreme 
Court of the United States. General Moore died in the early part of the 
year 1777, after his brigade had been ordered to the northward, and was 
succeeded by General Francis Nash. Goveriior CicsweU's LetUrs MSS' 
General Howe survived the war, and is well known to history. 



156 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

been rallied for the defence of the South under Gen- 
eral Gates, the hero of Saratoga. And although some 
consolation was administered to the wounded spirit of 
the American General under this crushing defeat, by 
the success of General Sumter, in capturing, about 
the same time, a convoy of the enemy, yet this dar- 
ing and vigilant officer was himself surprised by the 
dashing Tarleton, and his force of eight hundred men 
put to route and dispersed, with the loss of his artil- 
lery, arms, and baggage, at Fishing Creek, two days 
afterwards. " Tlius," says a spirited writer, " the 
tragedy of the 16th, closing with the catastrophe of 
the 18th, the army of the South became a second 
time nearly annihilated." 

To this unbroken succession of reverses to our 
arms, it must be added that the resources of North 
Carolina to meet the impending danger, had been 
greatly impaired by the events of the war. A large 
number of her people, dispirited and broken down 
in health by service, the two preceding years, in 
the low and insalubrious sections of South Carolina 
and Georgia; her treasury and military supplies 
exhausted in the maintenance of these and otlier 
expeditions; all her continental troops,* and more 
than a thousand of her militia,^ made prisoners at the 
surrender of Charleston, and paroled, or yet in the 
hands <»f the enemy ; more than five hundred more, 
including s^'me of the most popular and influential 
officers, taken at the battle of Camden, and now in 

* Life of Davidson, appendix to Lee's Memoirs. 
•Marsbaire Life of Washington, p. SS3. 



BRITISH mVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 157 

confinement at St. Augustine * — these are circumstan- 
ces, not to be overlooked in estimating the appalling 
nature of the crisis, and the merit of a brave resist- 
ance. 

There was no impediment to the onward progress of 
Lord Cornwallis, except the want of supplies, which 
he impatiently awaited at Camden. His road to 
Charlotte, the capital of Mecklenburg county, and the 
first point of his destination, lay parallel to the great 
rivers of the country, and crosses the State boundary 
upon an imaginary line. In the absence of maps, so 
much of geography as may be necessary to compre- 
hend the movements which we shall describe, may bo 
comprised in few words. Tlie Broad and Catawba 
rivers are the chief tributaries of the Santee, and the 
Yadkin of the Pedee, parallel streams rising in the 
mountains of Korth Carolina, and running south- 
wardly to the ocean in South Carolina. The Cape 
Fear pursues a like course, but is wholly in North Car- 
olina, its head waters being the Deep and Haw or 
Saxapahaw rivers. The Dan is the head stream of the 
Roanoke, and at our points of reference is coursing 
from west to east, nearly with the line of division 
between North Carolina and Yirginia. 

But there is an episode to our narrative, before pur- 
suing the march of the invading army. The disastrous 
tidings of the fall of Charleston sped rapidly through 
the country, bringing gloom to the heart of the pat- 
riot, cheerfulness and joy to the loyalist, and inclining 

> Journal of Board of War, MS8. 



158 KEVOLUTIONAEY HISTORT OF N. CAROLmA. 

the wavering and irresolute to the cause of royalty. 
Early in June, the militia of the counties of Mecklen- 
burg and Rowan, comprehending the region between 
the Yadkin and Catawba, who had so early and so 
constantly signalized their devotion to liberty, were 
ordered out under Brigadier General Eutherford, to 
oppose the triumphal march of the British General. 
Scarcely had they assembled at the place of rendez- 
vous, about ten miles northeast of Charlotte, when 
intelligence arrived of an assemblage of a body 
of loyalists at Kamsour's Mill, some forty miles dis- 
tant, beyond the Catawba, in the county of Tryon, 
and within view of the present village of Lincolnton. 
Unwilling to weaken the force he had gathered to 
impede the advance of the British army. General 
Rutherford despatched orders to Colonel Francis 
Locke, of Bowan, and other faithful officers, to collect 
the available force of their several neighborhoods, 
and suppress the insurrection at the earliest practicable 
moment. It appeared that one John Moore, of the 
county of Tryon, (now Lincoln,) who had joined the 
enemy in South Carolina the preceding winter, had 
recently returned, drcvssed in a tattered suit of British 
uniform and a sword, and announced himself a lieu- 
tenant colonel in the well known regiment of North 
Carolina loyalists, commanded by Colonel John Ham- 
ilton, of Halifax. lie brought detailed accounts of 
the siege and surrender of Charleston, and an author- 
itative message from Lord Cornwallis, that he would 
march into that section as soon as the then ripening har- 
vests were gathered, so as to afford a support for his 



BRinsn mvASioN in 1780, and 1781. 159 

army. Yery soon thereafter, Nicholas Welch, of the 
same vicinity, who had been in the British service for 
eighteen months, and bore a major's commission in 
the same regiment, also returned, with splendid ofii- 
cial equipments and a purse of gold, which was 
ostentatiously displayed to his admiring associates, with 
artful speeches in aid of the cause he had embraced. Ho 
also gave the first information of Buford's defeat, and 
represented that all resistance on the part of the whigs 
would now be hopeless. Under these leaders, there w^as 
collected in a few days, a force of thirteen hundred 
men, who were encamped in an advantageous position, 
preparatory to their being marched to eliect a junc- 
tion with the British in South Carolina. 

Colonel Locke, and the other officers who had re- 
ceived the orders of General Kutherford, already re- 
ferred to, proceeded to execute them with the utmost 
alacrity and promptitude. In less than five days they 
levied their several quotas, and crossing the Catawba 
at various fords, effected a junction within sixteen 
miles of the camp of the Royalists on the 19th of 
June, with three hundred and fiftv men. At sunrise 
the next morning, with this unequal force, and with- 
out any chief commander or understood arrangement 
of battle, except that three companies of horse, which 
constituted their cavalry, should go in front, tliey as- 
saulted the camp of the tories, containing as already 
mentioned, thirteen hundred men, and, after a well 
sustained and bloody engagement of an hour, com- 
pelled them to retreat. Tlie particulars of this action, 
did time permit us to recur to them, are of much in- 



160 REVOLUTIONARY mSTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

t^rest. Blood relatives and familiar acquaintances 
fought in the opposing ranks, and when the smoke of 
the battle occasionally cleared away, recognized each 
other in the conflict — the tories wearing their well 
known badge of a green pine twig in front of the 
hat, and the whigs a similar badge of white paper, 
which was in some instances taken as a mark by the 
enemy, and occasioned the wearers to be shot in the 
head. These were the only means of distinguishing 
the two parties in the action in which neighbor met 
neighbor in deadly strife, w'ith the rifles carried in 
hunting, and in the use of which weapon one hundred 
men on either side were as expert and unerring as 
any like number of Kentuckians in the time of Boone. 
Seventy men, including five whig and four tory cap- 
tains, w^ere left dead on the field, and more than two 
hundred w^ere wounded, tlie loss being shared about 
equally by the respective sides. 

It is a remarkable omission, in the histories of the 
war of the revolution, that no author, neither Mar- 
shall, Lee, Ramsay, Botta, nor any other, that I have 
consulted, makes mention of this important battle of 
llamsour^s Mills. The only intelligible record of it, 
in exttuso^^ was publislied in the newspapers of North 
Carolina thirty years since, and has been copied by 
Mr. Wheeler in his recent collection of materia his- 
torica of North Carolina. It is likewise noticed by 
Mr. Lossing in his recent work, the ^' Field Book of 



* From the pen of General Joseph Graham, an officer in Rutherford's 
brigade, who was on the battle-field immediately after the action. 



-:^'--,^. 







LlLLIXGTON HaLI. 



BRITISH INYASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 161 

the Revolution." For daring courage on the part 
of the whig assailants, considering that the enemy 
out-numbered them in the proportion of four to one, 
and had great advantage in position, it is surpassed 
by few events of the war : and as a chastisement 
and a check upon the rising and exultant spirit of 
the loyalists over the recent disasters to our arms in 
South Carolina, the result was of the same nature, 
and almost equal in its salutary effects, to the victory 
of Caswell and Lillington, at Moore's Creek Bridge, 
four years preceding. 

I have failed, earlier, to mention that Colonel 
Locke and his brave associates, after resolving to en- 
gage the enemy, despatched a messenger to carry this 
information to General Rutherford, and request his 
co-operation if possible, but did not make his compli- 
ance a preliminary to their attack ; and that this of- 
ficer, having heard of the retirement of the British 
forces from Waxhaw to Camden, had, without know- 
ledge of the intentions of Locke, crossed the Catawba, 
with the purjDOse of himself dispersing thertories at 
Ramsour's, and arrived with his brigade on the bat- 
tle-field about two hours after the retreat of the ene- 
my. Had the assault been postponed for this brief 
space, the victory w^ould doubtless have been more 
complete, and possibly many of the gallant dead 
would have been spared to encounter the invading 
Briton, trained for the conflict by this first essay in 
arms. 

General Rutherford, in the succeeding month, join- 
ed General Gates, in command of a brigade of militia, 
11 



162 REVOLUTION AEY HISTORY OF K. CAROLINA. 

and in the defeat at Camden, on tlie 16tli of August, 
was wounded and taken prisoner by the enemy ; and, 
therefore, does not appear in the ensuing campaign. 

Tlie determination of General Gates not to attempt 
to rally his routed army short of Hillsborough, which 
is near the centre of Korth Carolina, and more than 
two hundred miles from Camden, was an entire 
abandonment of one-half of the State to the depreda- 
tions of the enemy. This is mentioned, with regret, 
by Lee, in his memoirs of the war in the South, on 
account, particularly, of the district between the Yad- 
kin and Catawba, on whose eiSciency and devotion to 
the patriot cause he pronounces a high eulogium. 
With the British in front, and bodies of tories within 
striking distance, both on its right and left, the con- 
test now became in that section, a war pro aris etfoeis, 
with few immediate resources for its protection but 
those furnished by itself, and these greatly diminish- 
ed by the melancholy events to which allusion has 
already been made. But the spirit of the country 
did not forsake it in this trying hour, and it was, per- 
haps, fortunate that the British army, in its first in- 
road into the State, was to encounter a people of such 
unshaken resolution and activity in the gloom which 
overspread the southern country. 

Among many noble and intrepid patriots in this 
district, " who struggled with the storms of fate," and 
upheld the falling fortunes of their country, two char- 
acters deserve to be conspicuously remembered. These 
are Brigadier General "William Lee Davidson, and 
Colonel William E. Davie. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780 AND 1781. 163 

General Davidson was of Irisli extraction, and his 
parents, like almost all the original settlers in that re- 
gion, were emigrants from Pennsylvania. He was 
educated at an academy called " Queen's Museum," 
in Charlotte ; and fired with a noble ardor to sustain 
the patriot cause in arms, was commissioned a Major 
in one of the regiments raised in North Corolina for 
the continental service, in 1776. In this capacity he 
marched northward in the brigade of General Fran- 
cis Nash,' joined the main army under General Wash- 
ington, in New Jersey, and served under the Com- 
mander-in-chief through the three following cam- 
paigns; during which time he was promoted to a 
Lieutenant Colonelcy, with the command of a regi- 
ment. His presence at home, at this juncture, was 
purely accidental. The troops of the North Carolina 
line having been detached to re-inforce the southern 
army,' then under the command of General Lincoln, 
he obtained permission to visit his family, jfrom which 
he had been three years separated, with the expecta- 
tion of joining his regiment ri South Carolina. But 
Charleston being invested at the time of his approach, 
and all access cut off, he was thus saved from capture 
with his comrades in arms, and returned immediately 
to his home in Mecklenburg, He, however, did not 
resign himself to repose and inactivity, but, taking 
command of a body of militia, rendered effective 
service in quelling the tory insurrections consequent 

* Who was killed in the battle of Germantown, in October, 177T. 
'Washington papers \>j Sparks, 1779-80. 



164: KEVOLUTIONAUT HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

on the fall of Charleston. After the capture of Gen- 
eral Hutherford at Gates' defeat,' Colonel Davidson was 
appointed-: a Brigadier General of militia, and thus 
had immediate command of the citizen soldiers of 
the frontier county of Mecklenburg, at the time when 
the services of every man were required who was ca- 
pable of bearing arms. His romantic devotion to the 
public service, as manifested in a continuous absence 
of three years fix)m a young and endeared family, his 
familiarity with the well foughten fields of Mon- 
mouth, Brandywine and Germantown, and the fact 
that he had seen service under the eye, and with the 
approbation of Washington, made him a star of guid- 
ance to his countrymen, and inspired them with hope 
and confidence. 

Of Colonel D^vie, a less minute introduction is ne- 
cessary. Surviving the war, he became subsequently 
known to the Union, as one of the great American 
orators, lawyers and statesmen, a leader in every 
great enterprise for thfe improvement and elevation 
of the character of his own State^ — at one time her 
Chief Magistrate — a member of the Federal Conven- 
tion, a special minister to France, in conjunction with 
Mr. Murray and Chief Justice Ellsworth, during 
Napoleon's Consulate, and one of the most accom- 
plished and elegant gentlemen of the revolutionary 
race. At the period to which we refer, he may have 
been twenty-five years of age — some four years grad- 
uated at Nassau Hall, Princeton — ^interrupted in his 
law studies by the events of the war, 

Inter arma, silent leges, 



BRITISH HJVASION IN 1780 AND 1781. 165 

he had gratified his early desire and the inclinations 
of his genius, and become a soldier. Of studious 
habits, he had brought his well furnished and discip- 
lined mind to the study of military science, and had 
mastered it/ His service had been in the horse, where 
he had received the approbation of Pulaski. He had 
approved his gallantry at the battle of Stono, where 
he was severely wounded, at Hanging Eock, and on 
other fields ; and his zeal, in the patriot cause, by ex- 
pending an estate, constituting his chief, if not only 
fortune, in equipping a legionary corps, of which he 
was now at the head. He was prudent, vigilant, in- 
trepid and skillful in his movements against the en- 
emy, and with a charming presence, a ready elo- 
quence, and an undaunted spirit, he was among the 
young men of the day, as Harry Percy " to the chiv- 
alry of England." 

Having received his supplies. Lord Cornwallis 
moved forward from Camden on the 8tli of Septem- 
ber, with the assured expectation of conquering 
North Carolina, before Congress could bring another 
army into the field. With his military force there 
were adventitious aids, from which much was expected. 
In his train was the late Royal Governor Martin,'' who, 
having lingered oif the mouth of Cape Fear, in a 
ship-of-war, for more than a year after his expulsion 
from the province, in the hope of restoration to au- 
thority, had paid a visit to the mother country and 

' He was the author of a treatise on Cavalry Tactics. 
Journal of Board of War, N. C. 



166 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

was now returned, and hoped to receive that duti- 
ful submission, under the guns of his Majesty's armj^ 
which he had been unable to exact by the aid of his 
provincial adherents alone. A pnnting press formed 
also a part of the furniture of the camp, with which 
it was intended to fulminate threats, gazette victories 
and distribute pardons, protections and promises.' — 
In his ranks was a regiment of loyalists, raised in 
Korth Carolina, under the command of Colonel Ha- 
milton, a Scotch merchant of Halifax, and connected 
in business with a house at Cross Creek, in the midst 
of the settlement of his countrymen ; a gentleman of 
high tone and spirit, held in great esteem for the 
virtues of private life, and who, after the war, was 
for many years his Brittanic Majesty's consul, at Nor- 
folk.' From these it was hoped that disaffection 
would be encouraged, that the State would fall an 
easy prey, and that the royal army would find ready 
recruits within her Kmits for ulterior operations. 

The main army moving directly northward, in the 
direction of Charlotte, Lieutenant-Colonel Ferguson, 
with a detachment of regulars and loyalists, was des- 
patched west of the Wateree, or Catawba, to advance 
in a parallel line to it, to open free communication 
with the loyalists in that quarter, and incite them to 
effective co-operation with the British. 

* Journal of Board of War, N. C. 

' Colonel Hamilton is reputed to have been uniformly humane to Ameri- 
can prisoners, and Governor Burke, in his correspondenbe, acknowledges 
his kindness to himself, while a prisoner at Charleston. Burke's Letters, 
MSS. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 167 

To oppose the main anny there was no force, but the 
militia of Mecklenburg and Rowan, under Davidson, 
and the legionary corps of Davie. These troops had 
been upon duty the greater part of the summer, and, 
especially, since the defeat of Gates, had constituted 
a kind of national guard and corps of observation. 
On its approach Davidson prudently retired in the 
direction of Salisbury, but Davie, delighting in en- 
terprise, and being perfectly acquainted with the 
country, resolved, not only to watch the enemy, but 
harrass and annoy him whenever occasion should 
serve. Keeping well advised of his positions and 
movements, he struck on every opportunity, and al- 
ways with effect. By a perilous exploit, at the plan- 
tation of Captain Wahab, one of his own corps, near 
the South Carolina border, he completely surprised 
an outpost, and after killing and wounding about 
sixty of 4he adversary, dashed off unhurt, with a 
large acquisition of horses and arms. 

Upon the entrance of the British army into Char- 
lotte, Davie, being joined by about fifty volunteers, 
hastily assembled from the neighboring country, under 
Captain Graham, and, relying on the firmness of his 
troops, made a gallant stand in defence of this Caro- 
lina " cradle of liberty." By a judicious disposition 
of his force, under cover of the buildings and enclo- 
sures of the village, he thrice drove back the British 
cavalry, to receive the rebuke of their commander-in- 
chief, and made good his retreat, with a loss much 
inferior to that of the enemy.^ Lord Cornwallis oc- 

* Lee's Memoirs, p. 106. 



168 EEVOLUnONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

cupied the village, intending to advance to Salisbury. 
But with his overwhelming force, he found it no 
place of repose or security. His sentries were shot 
down at their posts ; his pickets kept in a constant 
state of alarm and annoyance ; his wagons, with 
stores, seized and destroyed witliin a few miles of his 
head-quarters ; and, in one instance, a foraging de- 
tachment of four hundred, men was attacked and 
driven home, with a loss of twenty-seven killed and 
wounded, by an ambushing party of seven individuals 
from the neighboring country, all of whom escaped 
unscathed ; the British officer declaring on his return, 
" that he had found a rebel in every bush outside of 
the lines of the encampment." ^ 

It was manifestations such as these that induced 
Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, in his " History of the 
Campaigns in the Colonies," to honor these adjoining 
counties of old Mecklenburg and Rowarr with the 
designation of " the most rebellious district in Ame- 
rica." Tlie printing press — the first that had ever 
been carried to that region of country — was put in 
requisition, both by the royal Governor and General, 
and Proclamations "" went forth, filled with assevera- 
tions of the success of his Majesty's arms, exhortations 
to loyalty and duty, and denunciations upon rebellion 
and treason ; but without serious effect. 

While his lordship was thus occupied and enter- 
tained at Charlotte, he was astounded by the defeat 

' Affair at Mclntire's Parm. General Graham's Mem., MSS. 
' Journal of Board of War. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 169 

and death of Ferguson, at King's Mountain, about 
thirty miles to his left, with the loss of his whole force, 
both regulars and loyalists, killed, wounded or taken 
prisoners, together with all the supernumerary arms 
with which he had been furnished for the inhabitants 
of the coimtry who might join the royal standard. 
Of this memorable exploit, achieved within a mile or 
two of the boundary between the Carolinas, on its 
southern side, by the co-operation of Colonels Camp- 
bell, of Yirginia ; Cleav eland, Shelby, Sevier, and 
McDowell, of N^orth Carolina ; Williams, Hill, and 
others, of South Carolina, it would be but idle repeti- 
tion to speak in detail. Of the action and its incidents, 
a full description is contained in Foote's " Sketches of 
Korth Carolina," and biographical memoirs of its 
principal actors in '' Lossing's Field Book of the Kev- 
olution." 'No one can, however, contemplate the 
gatherings of these intrepid, " Sons of Liberty," under 
the leaders of their respective sections or neighbor- 
hoods — their issuing forth, as did the largest portion 
of them, from the gorges and passes of the Allegha- 
nies, and taking the field, without quartermaster or 
commissary, each man upon his own horse, and fur- 
nished with his own arms, ^' the horse to be sustained 
by the grass of nature, and the soldier from the homely 
contents of his w^allet, made and filled by his wife or 
mother" — their concentration — their arrangement of 
the temporary command by election — their long 
marches — their eager pursuit of the enemy — his refuge 
on the mountain top — their assault, persevering cour- 
age, and overwhelming victory — without being carried 



170 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

back, in imagination, to the sublime simplicity and 
bravery ot classic romance in Sparta, and early Rome, 
or to the memorable defence of the Swiss cantons 
against the invasion of Austria. 

This victory, which was obtained on the Yth of 
jO October, was decisive of the campaign. Instead of 
proceeding to his meditated conquest, the British 
general was compelled to address himself to the task 
of maintaining what he had acquired. Departing 
from Charlotte in the night, pursued by Davidson and 
Davie to the Catawba, with the capture of a portion 
of his baggage ^ he retreated to "Winsboro', some 
twenty miles westward of Camden, as the most eligi- 
ble position for the preservation of this ascendency in 
South Carolina. 

Thus terminated the invasion of 1780. But the 
end of the war was not yet. 

By his selection of Hillsborough as the point for re- 
forming his routed army, General Gates had the advan- 
tage of consultation with the Governor of the State 
and the Legislature, which in view of the public dan- 
ger, held two appointed sessions in each year, and 
assembled in that town on the 5tli of September.' 
This body at once applied itself to providing for the 
defence of the State in every practicable method. At 
its preceding session a board had been created, " for 
carrying on trade for the benefit of the State," for the 

* Journal of Board of War. 

' Here also, or hereabouts, was Governor Rutledge of South Carolina, a 
refugee, after the dissolution of his government at home, as I infer from tho 
correspondence of the Board of War. 



BEITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 171 

purpose of importing or procuring arms, and " other 
military stores for the army, as well as the importa- 
tion of salt, and all kinds of merchandise, for the use 
and consumption of the good people of the State." 
And now, to procure supplies for the large army it 
was hoped to assemble and recruit, taxes were laid, to 
to be paid in provisions, and agents appointed in eve- 
ry county for their collection ; purchases were author- 
ized of all the means of subsistence, as well as of 
wagons, horses, and other necessaries, so far as the 
impoverished treasury would allow, and impressments 
were freely authorized, other means of supply failing. 
But the most notable of their proceedings, was " An 
act creating a Board of War," to direct and control 
the military of the State, and a resolution requesting 
General Smallwood, of the Continental line, and sec- 
ond in command to General Gates, to assume the com- 
mand of her militia that were or should be called into 
service ; a measure, originating doubtless, in no feel- 
ing of disrespect to Governor Nash, the actual occu- 
pant of the executive chair, and prompted by a sense 
of the momentous nature of the crisis, but utterly at 
variance with the plain precepts of the constitution, 
which then, as now, declared that " the Governor, for 
the time being, shall be the captain general and coui- 
mander-in-chief of the militia." The Governor, under 
the constitution, had no power of veto to arrest the 
law, and, flagrante hello, did not interfere with the 
action of the board, though, in a later stage of its 
existence, he refused to fill a vacancy occurring from 
the resignation of one of its members, upon the ground 



173 KEVOr-UTIONAUY HTRTORY OK N. CAnOT.TNA. 

of tlm conslitiit.ioiijil ohjoctioii. 'l\\c ]A'«:;IslHt,nro of 
South (Carolina, llic |ti*(u*(Hliiijr your, luid, by its onjurt- 
rnont, cIoIIumI .lolm liiitliul^o, IIkmi li(>i*( J(»\('i-ii()r, with 
ihv powers of a dirlnloi- llic niofc cirt'cliuilly lo o]>- 
|»oso fho (MU'iny. IN'ccodonts llu'sc, rulluM' chisHic.al 
llian conslil.ulioiuil, ncconlini^ lo oursysUMu, and oidy 
n^sorjod \x>, iiii(|m'slioii:d)ly, in Ihosi^ cnuT^iMU'-ioH, ho- 
causoof Iho iinMdiuMd,daii<]jor to tho Ycry (existence of 
tho Slato. 'i1u> coiuinissioiiors (^oiiHtitut inuj this board, 
by tlio (^U'ction of the Lo^'ishitiin^ ilsolf, wvvv .lolm 
l*oini, Alcxan<KM* Martin, and ( )rondatoH Davis. TluMr 
session was (M>niiniMU'(Hl at llillsboron;j;h, on tlu^ Mth 
of SeptiMnher, IT-'^O, and coiitinncMl, by adjournincMit, 
at llalilax, until the l>(llli of January, 17SI, when ittt 
authorities were rcMurniMl to the Le^'islature. Their 
journal, with so much of IIumi- coi-i-cspoiKhMUH* as has 
been preserved, is ainon<j^ the most interestinuj doeu- 
ments in our publiir archives. Tlu^y undcM'took tlie 
task d(»volved on tluMU in the nu)st devoted s])irit of 
patriotism, and with a propiM- sense of its magnitude, 
and exeeuted its duties with fearlessness, ability, and 
eminent public IxMU'lil. (\»n(luclini;- an active cor- 
respondence with l)avids(»n, Pavie, (h iuM*al Sumner, 
and other ollieers, as io the ])ositions of the aiMuy of 
the invadlnu^ eiUMuy, its advances, skirmishes, and 
retreat ; with local military ollieers, (\specially upon 
the np])er branches of the (^ape Fear and IVdec^, lus 
to the rising's or nuiraudini;-s of the tories, tho dispo- 
sition to b(^ made of })risoners taken from ihcm, and 
measures lor keepinjjj them in i^heck ; with tho (Gov- 
ernor (.»f the State, with (Jeneral Clates, and subse- 



BRITISH INVABION FN 1780, AND 1781. 173 

qucntly with CIcncral Greene, in regard to the rallied 
troops of the lately defeated array, tlie reinforcernenta 
arriving from other Htatew, and being levied in their 
own : the Hoard of War Beerris to have; exerted its 
utmost faculties in the department of tlie comrniHa- 
riat — in providing food and clothing for the; patriot 
forces. And when it is recollected tliat the State had 
no scai>ort of much comraerce, her inliahitants, then 
an now, ol)tainir]gt}ieir chief supplies of foreign goo^l» 
througli the neigij boring States — that Wilmington, 
the principal of these ports, soon fell into tin* hands 
of the enemy, who also lujldSoutli Carolina and (Geor- 
gia ; and almost simultaneously witli the march of 
Comwallis on Charlotte, liad landed a large body of 
troops in Virginia, nnder Arnold, and were tlireaten- 
ing an invasion from tlience- — that there was no inter- 
nal navigation, and that tlie best means of trans[>or- 
tation from the fertile valley of the Koanoke, arid from 
the 8ea]>oard, to the army, at llilLsborough, Salisf>iiry 
or Cliarlotte, was by the ordinary wagon of the planter, 
and that no inconsiderable portion of the supply of 
these ha^i been h>st in the rout ensuing the defeat of 
General Gates, tlie furnisliing of the? most indispensa- 
ble necessaries of life was a Herculean task. The 
ordinary productions of the earth had been yielded, 
though probably in diminished quantitic^s, In many 
sectioiLS, by reason of the interruptions of labor, from 
the heavy drafts for military service, in South Caroli- 
na, as well as at home, during the year; but in the 
circumstances of siege, whicli environed tlie State, 
the great privation was in the want of salt, without 



174: REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

which animal food cannot be preserved nor vegetable 
enjoyed — a privation which was alike felt by the 
army and the people of the country ; and it is quite 
apparent from the correspondence of this board, that 
an army essentially larger than that which was brought 
into the field, could not have been long maintained. 
In their communications with General Greene, the 
commissioners expressed their regret, that in conse- 
quence of the exhaustion of the treasury, the legisla- 
ture had adopted the policy of relying on the militia 
for the public defence. Tliis species of force was usu- 
ally called to tours of duty of three months duration ; 
and as they generally turned out on horseback, occa- 
sioning a great consumption of subsistence, it seems 
to have been arranged that but a limited number 
should be ordered to his aid, except in immediate 
expectation of a general engagement. Accordingly, 
large detachments, numbering in all four thousand 
men, that had been called out by the Governor or 
Board of War, and wxre on their march under Gen- 
erals Allen Jones, Gregory, and others, to unite with 
the army of defence, were halted and disbanded, lest, 
by joining the camp, they should consume the scanty 
stores of the continental soldier. 

At the next session of the Legislature, which com- 
menced on the 18th of January, 1781, acts were passed 
to discontinue the Board of War, and ^' establish a 
Council Extraordinary," to consist of " three persons 
of integrity and abilities, such as the General Assem- 
bly can have the greatest confidence in" — and " to 
invest the actual Governor (Abner Nash,) and this 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 175 



council, with the executive powers of government," 
after the expiration of his official term, provided the 
invasion of the enemy should prevent the holding of 
elections, and the meeting of the legislature at the 
usual time. But I have seen no record of the organiz- 
ation of this council, or any proceedings under these 
statutes. The result of the campaign probably ren- 
dered them unnecessary. 

It is to be regretted, that among the documents of 
this period there has been but a meagre preservation 
of the correspondence of Governor Nash. In the in- 
fancy of the government, no law required the execu- 
tive correspondence to be recorded ; and, there being 
as yet no permanent seat of government, such papers 
had no other depository than in the j)rivate mansion 
of the incumbent. He died some four years after the 
war, stilL high in the public confidence, and at the 
time of his demise a member of the Congress of the 
confederation. Having made this allusion to the 
measures of defence adopted by the State govern- 
ment in this, to her, the darkest hour of the war, I 
cannot withhold the expression of my gratification, 
that through every line of the public statutes, of the 
Journals of the General Assembly, and of the Board 
of War, there breathes the loftiest S23irit of defiance 
towards the enemy, and an unquailing determination 
to call forth every energy of the country to uphold 
its now doubtful cause. It well consists with the pat- 
riotic and daring resolutions of her popular assem- 
blies and Provincial Congresses of 1774-'5 and '6 ; 
and to the end of the contest, her authorities, amid 



176 REVOLUTION ABY HISTOKT OF N. CAPwOLINA. 

every trial and disaster, kept the standard of inde- 
pendence full high advanced, and the organized gov- 
ernment in steady, protective and salutary operation. 
" Magna vis est, magnum nomen, unum et idem sen- 
tisntis senat'UsP 

While the work of reconstructing the main army 
was pressed forward with all possible expedition at 
Hillsborough, the command of Davidson' took up a 
position on Rocky Kiver, in Mecklenburg, which, in 
his correspondence, he styles " Camp M'Knitt Alex- 
ander," the name of an early and ardent patriot in 
that county, from which he kept up a system of ob- 
servations on the British army and the disaffected 
districts of the country. General Sumner,^ with an- 
other force of militia, occupied '^ Camp Yadkin," west 
of the river of that name. General Smallwood,^ ac- 
cepting the command to which he had been invited 
by the General Assembly, accompanied by two hun- 
dred regulars under the renowned Colonel Morgan, 
who had now reached the southern army, proceeded 
westwardly, and took command of both these brigades, 
a few days after the retreat of Lord Comwallis from 
Charlotte. Chastising the tories, in a handsome skir- 
mish, by a detachment of his troops under Major 
Cloyd,* at Shallow Ford, on the Yadkin, in a settle- 
tlement not far from which place Colonel Bryan had 
raised and marched a regiment of loyalists, immedi- 
ately after the surrender of Charleston, and joined 
the British in South Carolina, he advanced to the 

> Journal of Board of War. ' Ibid. • Ibid. < Ibid, 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 177 

frontier of the State, on the Catawba, to watch the 
enemy and give support to General Sumpter, then 
manoeuvering against Tarleton in the upper districts 
of that State. 

General Gates, with the main army, subsequently 
took the same direction, and had occu23ied Charlotte, 
when he was superseded in the command by General 
Greene. I*^eed I add, that the appointment of this 
illustrious man, (approaching, in his characteristics, so 
much nearer to the great Commander-in-chief than 
any other officer in that war,) to the head of the ar- 
my of the South, filled all hearts with gladness and 
hope. The Board of War, in a correspondence which 
was immediately opened, expressed to him its great 
satisfaction upon this event, and engaged to draw 
forth all the powers of the State, and every necessary 
resource in it, to support him ; " that," say they " the 
command with which you are dignified, may be hon- 
orable to yourself, as well as satisfactory to the coun- 
try." Tlie transfer of the command was announced 
in general orders on the 3d of December. 

General Smallwood having been promoted to a 
Major Generalship, about this time left the service in 
the South, and Colonel Davie, being out of military 
employment by the expiration of the enlistment of 
his men, accepted from the Board of War the office 
of Superintendent Commissary General, made vacant 
by the resignation of Colonel Tliomas Polk, and ac- 
companied the army of General Greene in that ca- 
pacity through the ensuing campaign. 

Having thus occasion to mention the name of Col 
12 



178 KEVOLrTIONAHY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

onel Polk, I deem it proper to correct an error into 
which Mr. Lossing has fallen, in his Field Book, upon 
the authority of the papers of General Gates, and 
which, unintentionally, I have no doubt, does great 
injustice to his memory. It is an imputation of dis- 
affection, at the very time he held the office of Su- 
perintendent Commissary General. Fortunately, the 
Journal of the Board of War explains the whole 
matter. There was some complaint of inattention to 
duty on his part, in his important office, which he 
explained upon the ground of a scarcity of supplies, 
and necessary attention to his family; and Colonel 
Martin, a member of the board to which he was 
amenable, having visited the army in Mecklenburg, 
declares in a public letter recorded in its joui-nals, 
that in his opinion. Colonel Polk, under the circum- 
stances, had fulfilled the duties of his office as well as 
circumstances would admit. He was immediately 
afterwards entrusted by General Greene, with the 
temporary command of a Brigadier General of mil- 
tiia, and in all after, as in prior time, was regarded as 
a firm and unwavering patriot.^ 

* He was not only himself a champion and leader of great influence and 
eflfectiveness, but the father of three sons, all of whom were in active mil- 
itary service, after, as well as before this alleged disaffection. One of these, 
bearing his father's name, was slain in the battle at Eutaw Springs, in 
which he commanded a company. Another, Charles Polk, was an oflBcer 
in General Rutherford's expedition for the relief of Wilmington, in the 
autumn of 1781 ; and a third, the late Colonel William Polk, of Raleigh, 
after having been wounded in the Scovilite expedition, and at the battle of 
Germantown, was aid-de-camp to General Davidson, and at his side when 
he fell, at the passage of the Catawba, and commanded a regiment of the 
State troops of South Carolina, under Sumpter, at Eutaw. For evidence 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1Y80 AND 1781. 1T9 

Surveying his troops and supplies, General Greene 
found liimself at the head of about two thousand 
men, one-half of whom were militia, with provisions 
on hand but for three days, in an exhausted country, 
and but a scanty supply of amunition, which could 
not be replenished short of Yirginia. With the quick 
ey-e of military genius, he determined to divide his 
fore«, small as it was. Relying upon Davidson's mi- 
litia, to be called from their homes when the emer- 
gency might require, as a central force, he sent out 
Morgan, now promoted to the rank of Brigadier-Gen- 
neral in the Continental service, across the Catawba 
and Broad Rivers ; whilo he himself led the main 
army to a point opposite Cheraw, on the Pedee, 
where he was soon after joined by the effective legi- 
onary corps of Lieutenant-Colonel Henry Lee, the 
author of the " Memoirs of the War in the South," 
subsequently Governor of Virginia, and the Funeral 
panegyrist of Washington by the appointment of 
Congress. By this judicious disposition he secured 
abundant supplies of provisions for his troops, inter- 
rupted communications between the British army and 
the loyalists, and put it out of the power of Lord 
Cornwallis again to invade l^orth Carolina, without 
iirst driving hack Morgan, or leaving him in his rear. 
Morgan, by concert, was strengthened by accessions 
of militia under General Pickens, of South Carolina, 

of the appomtment of Colonel Polk to the command of a Brigadier Gene- 
ral, by General Greene, early in the spring of 1781, see article in the Uni- 
Tersity Magazine for June, 1852, entitled " Closing scenes of the Rerolu- 

tiOB." 



180 REVOLrTIONAET HISTOET OF N. CAROLINA. 

and Majors McDowell, of North Carolina, and Cun- 
ningham, of Georgia. 

Large reinforcements, nnder General Leslie, having 
been received by Lord Cornwallis, he despatched a su- 
perior force, nnder Lieut. Colonel Tarleton, to oppose 
Morgan, himself following with the main army in the 
same direction. Tlie battle of the Cowpens, which 
immediately followed, and in which Tarleton was tri- 
umphantly defeated by Morgan, with the loss of one 
hundred killed and more than five hundred prisoners, 
with arms, artillery and military stores, being fought 
in South Carolina, a few miles beyond the border, is 
not within the immediate scope of our subject, but it 
brought back the enemy into Korth Carolina, mad- 
dened by this humiliation of his arms, and eager for 
revenge. Forced to retreat from his first entrance 
into the State, w^ith the sinecure royal Governor un- 
der his escort, by the imexpected reverse at King's 
Mountain, and now thwarted by the sudden overthrow 
of the elite of his army by an inferior number of the 
republican troops, a great part of whom were militia, 
his lordship resolved upon a vigorous pursuit, to res- 
cue the prisoners of the Cowpens, and destroy Mor- 
gan. 

1\\ this manner commenced that thrilling series of 
military movements which was continued with the 
activity of a steeple chase for quite two months. — 
Tlie main British army lay at Turkey Creek, some 
twenty-five miles south of Cowpens, and Morgan may 
be considered to have had, by so much, the start of 
his Lordship, in this trial of speed. The latter moved 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780 AND 1781. 181 

immediately, hoping to cut off Morgan, encumbered 
with prisoners and baggage and stores, the fruits of 
his victory, before he should reach the fords of the 
Catawba, in North Carolina, for which it was presum- 
ed he would aim. Morgan, however, vigilant and 
wary as his great adversary, and fully comprehend- 
ing liis danger, abandoned his captured baggage, and 
leaving his wounded under the protection of a flag, 
on the very evening of the day of battle, set out on 
his retreat ; his prisoners in advance, escorted by his 
militia, followed immediately by the regulars, under 
his own command. This, it will be recollected, was 
on the ITth of January, 1781. For twelve weary 
days, nee mora^ nee requies^ the retreat and pursuit 
were continued without intermissi on . ISTear nightfall, 
on the evening of the 29th, the vanguard of the royal 
anny, under General O'Hara, gained the Island Ford 
on the Catawba, on the present road from Statesville 
to Morganton, but discovered that Morgan had cros- 
sed over with all his prisoners and forces, about two 
hours before. Halting and encamping on the shore, 
with the purpose to renew the pursuit early in the 
morning, the British General was tantalized by the 
loss of his prize, at the moment he supposed he was 
about to clutch it in his grasp. During the night the 
river was swollen by heavy rains, was impassable in 
the morning, and so remained for two days, at the 
expiration of which, Morgan's militia, with his pri- 
soners, were far on their march towards Yirginia.' — 



* This is the account of Lee, which has been followed by Lossing, The 



182 REVOLUTION AEY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

He himself, witli his regulars, passing down the left 
bank of the river, to Sherill's Ford, there met General 
Greene, who, having been advised of the movement 
of the enemy from Winnsborough, and the victory of 
the Cowpens, had hastened forward, with an aid-de- 
camp and a few militia attendants, from his camp on 
the Pedee, to concert measures to secure its fruits, 
£md to act against the adversary as means and oppor- 
tunity might permit. 

The swell in the Catawba, w^hich the pious feeling 
of the country could not but ascribe to providential 
interposition, and the consequent interruption in the 
pursuit of the enemy, determined General Greene to 
dispute his passage across the river, and thus gain 
time for the an-ival of his army at Salisbury, whither 
he had ordered it to hasten, under General Huger, of 
South Carolina, and Colonel Otho H. Williams, of 
Maryland, with the hope of there forming a junction 
with Morgan. In execution of this design, Morgan's 
light troops, joined by a few militia, were posted at 
Sherrill's Ford. General Davidson, who, in this cri- 
tical period, was ever on the alert, had called out the 
militia force under his command, and while watch 
was kept at various fords on the river, with directions 
to give information of the approach of the enemy, a 



Order Book of Lord Cornwallis, however, is in ilie possession of the His- 
torical Society of North Carolina, and the work of Stedman appears to 
establish the fact, that no part of the British army, at that time, advanced 
further than Ransom's Mill, fifteen miles from the Island Ford. But there 
is little doubt, from tradition, that the swell in the river, enabled General 
Greene to adopt measures to dispute the enemy's passage across it. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 183 

considerable body of bis troops was placed at Seattle's 
Ford, be bimself taking position at Cowan's Ford, 
witb about tliree bundred and fifty men, on tbe even- 
ing of tbe 31st of January. Lord Cornwallis, in tbe 
meantime, foiled in bis pursuit, bad encamped at 
Ramsour's mill, tbe scene of tbe action between tbe 
Wbigs and Loyalists tbe preceding summer ; and liav- 
ing experienced delay in bis late marcb, from tbe in- 
cumbrance of bis bao:2:ao:e, be liere destroyed all tbat 
could be regarded as superfluous, bimself setting tbe 
example by casting into tbe flames tbe baggage of 
bead-quarters, and converted bis wliole army into 
ligbt troops, witb a view of renewing tbe pursuit 
of Morgan, or forcing General Greene to an ac- 
tion. Tbus disencumbered, be lost no time in ap- 
proacbing tbe Catawba upon tbe abatement of tbe 
flood, and wbile a feint was made at Beattie's Ford, 
tbe most public and eligible pass, by a detacbment 
under Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, bis Lordsbip mov- 
ing witb tbe main army in tbe niglit, was at dawn of 
day at tbe private pass of Cowan's Ford, wbere be 
bad been anticipated by tbe vigilance of Davidson. 
Plunging into tbis bold river, wliicb is bere tbe fourtb 
of a mile wide, witb its waters not yet assuaged, tbe 
Britisb troops waded tbrougb, and were received by 
a well directed fire from our militia ; but succeeded 
in making good tbeir landing, witb tbe loss of about 
forty killed and wounded, including Colonel Hall. On 
tbe American side tbe loss was inconsiderable, except 
in tbe fall of tbe gallant Davidson, wbo bere sealed 
witb bis life's blood tbe vows of devotion and duty 



184 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

to his country, which he had made in the outset of 
the struggle, and which he had zealously maintained 
by five years of service in the field. 

Our repulsed forces retired to Torrence's tavern, six 
miles distant, on the Salisbury road, where they were 

joined by their comrades from Beattie's Ford, who 
retreated on hearing of the loss of their General ; and 
halting there in confusion, and no individual assuming 
command, they were surprised by Tarleton's cavalry, 
who had been sent in pursuit, and put to rout, but 
without serious loss. General Greene now hastened 
eastward to Salisbury with the troops under Morgan, 
and despatched orders to linger and Williams not to 
advance to that place, but to unite with him at Guil- 
ford Court House, some fifty miles further east. Press- 
ing on, pursued eagerly by the British, he crossed the 
Yadkin at the Trading Ford eastward of Salisbury. 
And here again Heaven smiled on the American 
cause. His cavalry forded at midnight of the 3rd of 
February, and the infantry passed in boats at dawn 
the next morning, a few of their wagons being cut 
off by the pursuers. But the boats were secured at 
the place of landing, and a rise in the river during 
the night arrested the passage of the enemy, and 
forced him to proceed up its western bank some thirty 
miles, to the Shallow Ford, near the village of Himts- 
ville. Here he received intelligence of the successful 
junction of the two divisions of Greene's army at 
Guilford Court House, and lost all expectation of at- 
tacking them in detail ; but being confident of his 
power to encounter both, he moved forward, in the 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, xiND 1781. 185 

ardent hope of compelling them to battle before they 
conlcl reach Yirginia, where ammunition, supplies, 
and recruits awaited them. His movement up the 
Yadkin had thrown him nearer to the upper fords of 
the Dan Eiver than General Greene, and enabled him 
to cut him off fron#fchat mode of crossing ; and trust- 
ing so to overcome the distance between them as to 
arrest his j)assage in boats, he urged on his march with 
all possible expedition. Greene, resting his wearied 
troops for three days at Guilford Court House, where 
many of them within a month were to find their last 
repose, and calmly surveying his condition, deter- 
mined to continue his retreat into Yirginia ; and, with 
twenty-five miles the advantage in distance, set oft* in. 
a new race with the British General for the lower fer- 
ries of the Dan. Long and weary was the march — 
keen and close the pursuit. Organizing seven hun- 
dred suitable troops into a light corps, under the com- 
mand of Colonel Williams, subordinate to whom were 
Colonels Howard, Washington and Lee, General 
Greene placed these in his rear, to watch and skirmish 
with the enemy, while the army with its baggage and 
stores should pursue its way without molestation. Tlie 
British General, with a like policy, sent forward a 
vanguard of similar troops, under General O'Hara. 
On their first approximation, the skirmishing between 
these corps was brisk and active ; but experiencing 
no advantage in their results, they were discontinued 
by the enemy, and often these columns of the two 
armies would be seen in the wide plantations by the 
way, moving forward with a quick step without sign 



186 KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

of hostility, except wliere a curve in the road or the 
crossing of a stream promised some advantage to the 
pursuers. With a single meal a day to each army, 
and sliglit intervals for rest, the pursuit and retreat 
continued three days and nights. By the masterly 
dispositions of Colonel' Carrington, of Virginia, 
the Quartermaster General of the army, who had 
previously surveyed this river with a view to such a 
result of a campaign as the present, boats were in 
readiness at Irwin's ferry, and the army of Greene 
]>assed over the Dan on the 13th of February. Tlie 
division of Williams, eluding the enemy, crossed over 
the next day, swimming the horses of the cavalry, 
and pursued by O'llara until within a short distance 
of the river. 

Thus ended this celebrated retreat of two hundred 
and thirty miles from the Cowpens, diagonally across 
Xorth Carolina into Virginia, and which composes 
one of the most interesting chapters in all military 
history. Contemplating the romantic Piedmont 
country through which it was made ; its projecting 
mountains near at hand, and loftier ones in the distant 
view ; its lovely vales and noble rivers swollen by 
floods ; the battles and skirmishes of the two armies, 
and exploits of the partisan corps and individuals ; 
literally "hair breadth 'scapes and adventures by 
flood and field," ; an imaginative mind could not 
attempt its description witliout bursting forth into 
song, and crowning its heroes with unfoding amaranth. 
But it leaves the British General on the northern 
frontier of a third of the Southern States ; shall that 



BRITISH INYASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 187 

State be added to his conquests ? Frustrated in tlie 
object of his long and wearisome pursuit, be bad yet 
tbe eclat of a victor in compelling bis advei*sarj to 
ilee, and wisely concluded to make tbe most effectual 
use of tbis attribute. After a single day's repose, be 
proceeded unopposed to Hillsborougb, wbere webave 
seen tbe Legislature, and afterwards tbe Board of 
"War bad been recently in session. It was, perhaps, a 
fortune for tbe State, at that time, that she bad no 
great city to be struck at by tbe enemy as a vital part, 
and by imj^ositions upon which general submission 
might have been exacted ; but that her wealth and 
population were diffused over an extensive territory, 
intersected by mountains, rivers and morasses, tbe 
inhabitants of which were as little dependent on 
each other, except for good neighborhood and mutual 
defence, as they were upon tlie enemy. There was 
no permanent seat of government, and the Legislature 
rarely assembled in tbe same town twice in success- 
ion. Tlie occupation of Hillsborough, tbe recent 
place^'of meeting of tbe General Assembly and the 
Governor, therefore, was of itself a circumstance of 
little importance. Lord Cornwallis, however, erected 
there tbe royal standard, and putting his printing 
press again in requisition, issued forth a proclamation, 
assuming to himself the air of a conqueror, offering 
protection, and appealing to tbe liege subjects of his 
Majesty to prove their loyalty and duty by coming to 
the aid of bis cause, and thus contributing to restore 
the blessings of order and good government. Tliis 
appeal, accompanied by the most rigid observance of 



ISS KEVOLUTTONAEY HISTOKY OF N. CAROLINA. 

order in tlie restraint of liis troops from all trespass 
on ^^erson or property, was not without its eifect upon 
the inhabitants of the country west of the Haw and 
north of Deep river, many of whom had been leaders 
in the resistance of the regulation in 1771, and having 
been then overcome and forced to swear allegiance to 
the crown, were now loyalists, as much from scruples of 
conscience as attachment to the enemy's cause. 

The quiet of the conqueror did not long remain 
imdisturbed. After the fall of General Davidson, on 
the fii*st of Eebruary, we left his command,- consisting 
of men from Mecklenburg and Eowan, routed and 
dispersed by a surprise from Tarleton's cavalry, at 
Torrence's Tavern, six miles from the Catawba. Re- 
assembling after the passage of the British army, they 
collected a force of seven hundred men, and followed 
the pursuing enemy. There being difterences of 
opinion among the field officers as to the chief com- 
mand, here, as in the case of Campbell at King's 
Mountain, on the 11th of February, they elected Gen- 
eral Andrew Pickens of South Carolina, to the head 
of Davidson's brigade.' This distinguished partizan 
officer was at the surprise at Torrence's, and had con- 
tinued wtth these troops from that time, but without 
command, except of a few followers from South Car- 
olina. Doubtless, they could not have found a more 
skillful, gallant, and efficient leader. But the effect 
of this leadership lias occasioned them to be mistaken 



* Memoranda of General Graham, who commanded a company of mounted 
men in this brigade. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 189 

by Lee and other liistorians for militia of South Caro- 
lina. Passing leisurely through the country after the 
British army, they effectually kept down the loyalists, 
and at dawn of day, on the morning of the ISth of 
February, a detachment of two companies of this 
force, by order of General Pickens, surprised and 
captured a picket stationed at Hart's Mill, within a 
mile and a half of the head quarters of Cornwallis, at 
Hillsborough. Petreating to a place of safety, in 
the direction of Stony Creek, with some live and twenty 
prisoners, Pickens luid ordered a halt, to allow those 
engaged in the night expedition to refresh themselves 
wdth breakfast, when an alarm was given of tlie ap- 
proach of the enemy in force. Great was the joy of 
the camp, however, to learn that the advancing column 
was not Tarleton, with his famous cavalry, in quest of 
the caj^tors of the picket, but Lieutenant Colonel Lee, 
at the head of his legion, who had been sent by Gen- 
eral Greene in advance of the main army, to keep an 
eye upon the enemy, and prevent, if possible, the 
junction of any loyalists to his standard. This was 
the first meeting of these renowned leaders who co-op- 
erated so actively during the residue of the campaign. 
Liforming themselves correctly of the situation and 
movements of the enemy, and learning that Tarleton 
had been despatched westward, to encourage the 
loyalists beyond the Haw River, and escort to head- 
quarters any who desired to join the king's army, they 
set out in pursuit, to cut off the communication, and 
if possible, compel him to action. By a complete 
surprise on both sides, in the search for Tarleton, thev 



190 KEVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

came suddenly upon a body of six hundred loyalists, 
under Colonel Pyles, wlio, inspirited by tlie apparent 
success of the British arms, and the proclamation of 
their General, to take service under his flag, were on 
their march to Hillsborough with that obj ect. Expect- 
ing to meet Tarleton, they supposed the army of Lee 
and Pickens to be his, until they were overthrown 
with terrible slaughter. Ninety lay dead upon the 
field, and nearly all the residue were wounded. Lee 
and Pickens, hurrying forward, espied the camp of 
Tarleton in the evening, and were at the same time 
joined by Colonel Preston, with three hundred men 
from the mountains of Virginia, who having heard of 
the straits of Greene's army on his retreat, were 
marching to join him, ignorant that he had passed the 
Dan. But the united forces postponing their attack 
until the morning, Tarleton eluded their grasp, and 
made good his retreat to Hillsborough. 

General Greene, having soon refreshed his wearied 
troops and replenished his military supplies, and be- 
ing reinforced by a brigade of militia under General 
Stevens, re-crossed the Dan on the 2od of February, 
egain to manoeuvre with the enemy. At the same 
time, Cornwallis, filled with chagrin at the disaster to 
Pyles, in this first considerable insurrection in his fa- 
vor since his entrance into the State, moved westward 
of Haw Piver, to be nearer to the settlement of the 
loyalists, and prevent the recurrence of a like casual- 
ty to his Majesty's faithful lieges. Tlie British Gen- 
eral, it must be noted, throughout the whole cam- 
paign, had two objects in view, after failing to over- 



BEITISH INTASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 191 

take Morgan's prisoners ; the one to destroy Greene's 
army, the otlier to augment his own by recruits from 
among the loyalist inhabitants ; and the aim of the 
American was as well to impress the loyalists by an 
exhibition of his force and spirit, as the safety of his 
own army and the annoyance of his adversary. Tak- 
ing position between the upper branches of Haw 
Kiver, General Greene re-established his corps of light 
troops under the gallant and sagacious Williams, 
which he kept between the enemy and the main army. 
In a series of interesting movements, assaults, skir- 
mishes and retreats, he baffled all the efforts of his 
opponent to bring either division of his army to a 
general engagement, until the arrival of a brigade of 
militia, under General Lawson, from Virginia, and 
two brigades from North Carolina, under Generals 
Butler and Eaton. Ilis force being now numerically 
superior to that of the enemy, he advanced to engage 
him in battle, and selected an eligible position at 
Guilford Court House. Lord Cornwallis, accepting 
the defiance, also moved forAvard to the conflict, which 
took place on the 15tli of March 1781, and became the 
assailant. Neitlier our limits nor your patience w^ill al- 
low an extended description of this, perhaps, greatest 
battle of the southern vrar. It is well portrayed by Mar- 
shall, Lee, Johnson, and Lossing. Suffice it to remark, 
that the order of battle, the sagacity, the calm self-pos- 
session, ready resource, and courage of both Generals, 
was well admirable ; that few engagements exhibit 
instances of greater daring and persevering bravery 
than were manifested by individual officers and men, 



192 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

and wliole corps ; that rarely have militia withstood 
the shock of veteran regulars, supported by artillery, 
better than did those of Virginia, under Stevens and 
Lawson, and Campbell, and never did veterans in any 
field better illustrate heroism and discipline than the 
lirst Maryland Regiment under Colonel Gunby and 
Lieutenant-Colonel Howard, and the Delaware trooj^s 
under Captain Kirk wood. And but for the panic 
wdiich seized the two North Carolina brigades, under 
Generals Butler and Eaton, who had recently joined 
the army, and were posted in the front line of the 
battle, under the booming of cannon, and an approach- 
ms: charp'e of the British under Lieutenant Colonel 
Webster, and who broke and fled with only a desul- 
tory fire ; and the wavering and flight of the second 
]Maryland regiment, under Colonel Ford, late in the 
action, General Greene must have achieved a com- 
plete victory. At the commencement, his force num- 
bered more than two to one of the enemy, and after 
the flight of the militia of Eaton and Butler, they yet 
stood in the proportion of three thousand two hun- 
dred to two thousand. Well, therefore, has it been 
observed by Marshall, that ''no battle in the course 
of the war reflects more honor on the British 
troops than that of Guilford." Tliey, however, were 
nearly all veteran. Tliose of Greene contained about 
five hundred of this class. Tliough retiring from the 
carnage of the day, northward, across the Beedy Fork 
of Haw Biver, to the L'on works on Troublesome 
Creek, he effected his retreat in good order and safe- 
ty to his troops, leaving to his adversary a "gory 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 193 

bed " and barren triumph on the field of battle. His 
loss in killed and wounded, amounted in all to about 
four hundred ; while that of Lord Cornwallis, accord- 
ing to the official account, was five hundred and thir- 
ty-two, including Lieutenant-Colonel Webster, the 
Ajax of his army, a friend " whom he loved, and 
who leaned upon his bosom.'' He was mortally 
wounded, and died some days subsequently in Bla- 
den, on the march of the army to Wilmington. The 
" Memoirs of Lee," mention that in a sharp action at 
WhitselFs mill, on Reedy Fork, which occurred with 
Williams' light troops, a few days before this battle, 
thirty-two rifle shots were deliberately fired at Colon- 
el Webster, by some of the best mountain riflemen 
under Campbell, who were placed in a log-house, with 
instructions to fire only at '' special objects," while 
he led the British column across the stream, but all 
without effect. The termination of his life was re- 
served for probably a chance shot at Guilford. A 
similar anecdote is related of General Frazer, of Bur- 
goyne's army, who made a like miraculous escape 
from the fire of a selected body of American riflemen, 
with like deliberate aim, to receive his death wound 
in the engagement after the battle of Stillwater, in 
October, 1777. 

The effect of the battle at Guilford Court House 
was decisive. It drove Lord Cornwallis from North 
Carolina, and led to his ultimate surrender. Bestow- 
ing proper care on the wounded, with his character- 
istic humanity, he issued a bulletin, in the form of a 
proclamation, announcing the triumphant success of 
13 



194 REVOLUTION AEY HISTORY OF N. CAROLLtiA. 

liis Majesty's arms, and promising forgiveness of past 
oiFences, again exhorted all loyal subjects to join him 
in re-establishing law and order. But when he sur- 
veyed his shattered columns and thinned and crippled 
ranks, which had sustained a loss of near one-third, 
he discovered that " the victor was himself overcome," 
and the scene immediately changed. Thus far, his 
heart's desire had been a general action. To obtain 
it, he had strained nerve and sinew, and all the re- 
sources of military ingenuity, stratagem and skill ; 
had marched and counter-marched, full five hundred 
miles, through deep rivers and broken and ruinous 
roads, in heavy rains in the depth of winter, and had 
denied himself and his army the usual comforts of 
the camp, by the destruction of his baggage, to give 
greater celerity to his movements — he had attained 
it ; he had driven his adversary from a fairly fought 
field, and tasted the sweets of victoiy, but found them 
like "Dead Sea fruits." The loyalists had not risen 
to join him, as he expected, and mortifying as must 
have been the fact, he discovered that the salvation 
of his army depended upon immediate retreat. 

The indomitable Greene, on the other hand, refresh- 
in^^ and arraying his discomfited forces at his first 
camp, after leaving the field, advanced in three days 
to renew the conflict, and now experienced the proud 
satisfaction of seeing his late exultant enemy fleeing be- 
fore him to a place of refuge, and that he had delivered 
a State from conquest by his long suflering patience, 
prudence, courage, and the bravery and fortitude of 
his troops. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1Y80, AND 1Y81. 195 

We shall not pursue the retreat of Lord Cornwallis 
by way of Cross Creek to Wilmington, nor his march 
thence, nearly with the line of the present railroad, 
into Yirginia, where, in less than six months, he was 
obliged to surrender to Gen. Washington ; nor Gen. 
Greene in his subsequent march to the relief of South 
Carolina. 

But there was another invasion, in a different quar- 
ter, without a brief allusion to which our task would 
be incomplete. 

As a part of his plan for the subjugation of the State, 
Lord Cornwallis, about the time of breaking up his 
camp at Winnsborough, had sent from Charleston a 
land and naval force, under Major Craig, to take and 
hold the town of Wilmington, as a convenient port 
through which supplies might be furnished to his own 
army, which he expected to bring into communica- 
tion with it. The expedition succeeded, and the town 
was occupied on the first of February. The only ad- 
vantage, however, that it afforded to the army of in- 
vasion by land, was a convenient retreat and abun- 
dant refreshments after the disastrous battle at Guil- 
ford Court House. He reached it on the 7th of April 
and on the 25th of the same month set off to unite in 
the attempt to overcome Yirginia. 

The post at Wilmington, which was occupied by 
about three hundred regular troops, and a numerous 
but varying force of loyalists, gave great encourage- 
ment to the disaffected in that region of the State. — 
From the firmness with which the republican cause 
had been maintained, and the more than doubtful 



196 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

success of the Britisli arms in tlie late campaign, they 
had been brought to observe a prudent neutrality ; 
but after the departure of Greene's army into South 
Carolina, they acquired new confidence, and became 
a formidable foe. A detachment of this mixed force, 
under the immediate command of Major Craig, tra- 
versed the country, with occasional skirmishes with 
the militia, as far eastward as the valley of Keuse 
river, and seized the town of Newbern ; and the war 
between whigs and tories raged in the district be- 
tween the Cape Fear and Pedee, with a fierceness 
rarely surpassed in border contests. Generals Brovm, 
Owen, Wade, Willis, and other patriot leaders in 
that region, besides encountering this domestic enemy 
in skirmishes and assaults without number, fought 
with them an unsuccessful battle at Beattie's Bridge 
on Drowning Creek, a branch of the Pedee, and 
General Butler, with the militia of Orange county, 
met and repulsed them, but without a decisive result, 
at Lindley's mills, on Cane Creek, in the county of 
Chatham. 

One of the chiefs of the tory commanders, if not the 
head of their forces was David Fanning, who in his 
correspondence styled himself " Colonel of the Royal 
Militia," and who has left a character in the traditions 
of the State associated with every crime savoring of 
rapacity, revenge or cruelty. Always well mounted, 
and accompanied by a band of kindred spirits, he 
swept over the country like a Camanche chief. Sur- 
prising parties of Whigs when off their guard, he 
often gave no quarters ; or lying in ambush or poun- 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 197 

cing upon them at their homes, he seized and murdered 
or tortured the obnoxious patriots, and then plundered 
and burnt their dwellings. By a series of bold ad- 
ventures, he took the town of Cross Creeks, now 
Fayetteville, captured the Whig militia officers of the 
county of Chatham, when sitting in court martial at 
Pittsborough, and, by a sudden descent on Hillsbo- 
rough, at dawn of day, about the middle of September, 
seized and carried off the Governor of the State.' He 
outlived the war, and took refuge in the loyalist set- 
tlement of New Brunswick, or Nova Scotia. Mr. 
Sabine, whose sketch of Fanning, in the Lives of the 
Loyalists, is exceedingly brief and imperfect, in illus- 
tration of his character as an outlaw, relates that when 
General Marion, of South Carolina, admitted to terms 
Major Gainey, a celebrated loyalist, and a party un- 
der him. Fanning was specially named as excluded 
from the benefits of the arrangement. This quite 
corresponds with the " corsair name he has left to our 
times," in his old haunts, on the north side of the 
Carolina border; and caused him with two others 
only, to be specially excepted from the provisions of 
the " act of pardon and oblivion," passed by the Leg- 
islature at the conclusion of peace.' 

» Since this was written, I have learned that the MSS of the Historical 
Society of North Carolina, shew that Fanning and McNeill commanded 
the loyalist forces on alternate days, and that McNeill was in command in 
the actual descent on Hillsborough. 

•To those in the least degree acquainted with the history of the State, it 
is deemed quite unnecessary to say that David Fanning, here mentioned, is 
a very distinct person from Edmund Fanning, a lawyer of education and 
literary accomplishments, who was so conspicuous an object of aversion in 
the movement of this Regulation in 1771. 



198 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

The Governor who was so unfortunate as to become 
his prisoner, was His Excellency Tliomas Burke, an 
Irish gentleman, bred to the profession of medicine 
in his native country, but had renounced it for that 
of the law in this. Of a bold and impetuous temper, 
a ready writer and speaker, and ardently attached to 
the American cause, he had been one of the great 
conductors of the contest with the mother country, 
in the colony, and had had a large share in the for- 
mation of the constitution for the government of the 
State. From tlfls work he was immediately translat- 
ed to the Continental Congress, of which he had been 
an active and conspicuous member, from December^ 
1776, until his election to the office of Governor, in 
the first part of the year 1781. He appears to have 
left his seat in Congress, at Philadelphia, and gone as- 
an amateur to the battle of Brandy wine; and his 
election to the chief magistracy of the State, in this 
crisis, is presumed to have been in some degree at- 
tributable to the energy and ardor of his nature, 
which miirht have rendered him a successful leader in 
the field. Being some thirty miles distant from the 
nearest approach of these marauders heretofore, he 
was completely surprised, and without military at- 
tendants, in a small village, was carried off without 
difficulty. Hurried, by long and rapid marches, 
through deep forests and pathless tracts of interming- 
led sand and swam]), threatened with personal vio- 
lence, and pillaged of everything except the clothes 
he wore, he was delivered by his savage captoi-s to 
the custody of Major Craig, on the 2Sd of Septem- 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 199 

ber ; and, bj an outrage on every principle of justice 
and public law, he was committed to close confine- 
ment, under pretence that he was a prisoner of State 
and not of war/ Being transferred to Charleston, 
wdiere General Xeslie was in command, he was paroled, 
as a prisoner, to James' Island. The Island was, at 
this time (December, '81, and January, '82,) infested 
with large numbers of tory refugees, who had sought 
protection under the British arms, by reason of the 
recent success of General Greene in recovering South 
Carolina, and driving in their forces into the garrison 
of Charleston. To these Governor Burke, from his 
past history and ofiicial station, was an object of such 
deep hostility as to endanger his personal safety. To 
an application for a parole to his own State, or some 
other southern State, or to be exchanged for an equiv- 
alent, or, if all these should be refused, then that he 
might be transferred to some other place for his per- 
sonal safety, no direct answer was made, but he was 
given to understand that none of his requests could 
be allowed ; and that, at the solicitation of Major 
Craig, he was to be detained indefinitely, to the end, 
that if the notorious Fanning, or any tory leader 
whom this British ofiicer had employed, should be 
taken, and suffer punishment under the laws of the 
State, there might be retaliation upon him."* It was 
now the seventh year of the w^ar, and the sixth after 
the National Declaration of Independence ; the Amer- 

* Governor Burke's letter to Willie Jones, MSS. 
' Goyernor Burke's letters, MSS. 



200 EEVOLUnONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

ican cause had recently acquired renewed confidence 
and stability from the surrender of Lord Cornwallis 
at Yorktown, which occasioned the evacuation of 
Wilmington by Major Craig ; from the result of the 
battle at Eutaw Springs, and the consequent retire- 
ment of the British army to Charleston, and from the 
arrival of large reinforcements to General Greene 
from the northward, under Generals St. Clair and 
Wayne. The individual thus subjected to degreda- 
tion and insult, was a high-spirited and urbane gen- 
tleman, accustomed to the observances of refined life, 
and the deference habitually yielded to his position. 
Officially, he was the first magistrate of one of the 
thirteen independent States, and the third person in 
succession who had performed the functions of that 
station. In the outset of the Tvar, Great Britain had 
affected to treat all Americans as mere rebels, with- 
out regard to their governmental organizations ; and 
the dignified reply of General Washington to the 
haughty note of General Gage, at Boston, justifying 
such a course, in which he announces to the British 
Commander-in-Chief, " if your officers, our prisoners, 
receive from me a treatment different from what I 
wished to show them, they and you will remember 
the occasion of it," ' will readily occur to the reader 
of history upon the statement of this question. But 
in the progress of the contest, this pretension had 
been relaxed into the observance, for the most part, 
of the rules of civilized warfare ; and the duty of 

* Marshal's Life of Washington. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 17S0, AND 1781. 201 

humanity to prisoners, and deference to tlieir rank 
among tlieir countrymen, had been recognized, not 
only in not enforcing close confinement, but in ex- 
changes of rank for rank, or its equivalent. But in 
this instance, chicanery was resorted to, and it wa^ 
alleged that although continental officers were so far 
respected as to be subjects of exchange, a like char- 
acter could not be extended to the militia or State 
officers. Tlie Continental Congress certainly had 
given no color to this attempted distinction ; on the 
contrary, upon the second invasion of South Carolina 
in 1778--'9, when Kichard Caswell, a soldier of re- 
nowm, filled the Executive Chair of North Carolina, 
that body, at the urgent request of the delegates 
from South Carolina, had, by resolution, requested 
him to take command, in person, of the militia force 
he had ordered out to aid in her defence, with the 
rank of a Major General in the continental line, and 
subordinate only to General Lincoln.' And to nega- 
tive, in the most unqualified manner, this weak pre- 
tension. Brigadier General Kutherford, of the North 
Carolina militia, who, w^e will remember, was taken 
prisoner at the defeat of Gates, had been recently 
exchanged, and returned to his own State, after a con- 
finement of twelve months at St. Augustine, Florida. 
The close confinement of Governor Burke, and his 
parole only to limits in which he was in constant dan- 
ger of assassination, was, therefore, in contravention of 
recent precedent, as well as of all just principle, and 

* Crovernor Caavrell's Correspondence, MS8. 



202 rj:voLUTioxAiiT history of n. Carolina. 



/ 



could be vindicated only by tliat new version of pub- 
lic law, lately acted upon in the Carolinas, by which 
whole communities of peaceable citizens were claim- 
ed as prisoners, and each man forced to a parole of 
non-resistance or close confinement, and by virtue f)f 
which the lamented llayiie had been recently put to 
an ignominious death, by a military order, without a 
trial. Tliat it did not produce retaliation, in a sum- 
mary and exemplary manner, can only be accounted 
for by the near approach of peace, and the determi- 
nation of his captivity by the act of the prisoner him- 
self. Stung by the want of respect with which he 
had been treated from the day of his seizure, and the 
reflection that he was detained without limit of time, 
as a hostao^e for the safetv of bandits and outlaws 
who had forfeited their lives to the municipal laws, 
and whose depredations were still continued in the 
State, under his government, he advised the most ri-. 
gorous punishment on these culprits, should they bo 
apprehended, without regard to his own safety. And 
being well satisfied that his own life was in jeopardy 
from the licentious loyalists who surrounded him on 
James' Island, some of whom were fugitives from 
Xorth Carolina, he considered his parole cancelled by 
the circumstances in which he had been placed by 
the British commander, and resolved to withdraw 
himself from his custody. Tliis purpose he effected 
on the night of the 16th of January, 1782, and after 
having been four months a prisoner. Having made 
good his escape, he two days afterwards addressed to 
General Leslie the following letter : 



british invasion in 17s0 and 1781. 20^) 

January 8tk, 1782. 
Sm — ^YoTi will be pleased to recollect that I wrote 
to you on the 30th of last month, requesting a parole 
within the American lines, and informing joii that 
my person was in great danger, from the refugees, 
who were exceedingly licentious, and to whom per- 
sons of my political character are peculiarly obnoxi- 
ous : therefore, that if granting my request was inex- 
pedient, it would be necessary to remove me to some 
place where my person might be safe. You were 
not pleased to answer that letter, and I found myself 
still exposed to men who are but too well known to 
be little restrained by moral principles, and whom I 
have seen commit even murder, with entire impunity. 
Deeming it exceedingly probable tliat these might 
conceive some violent design again against me, and 
knowing that fear of punishment would not restrain 
men who felt themselves secure even from discoverv, 
I felt every hour during sixteen days, all the appre- 
hensions of assassination. As my representation to 
you had not procured your notice, so far as even to 
induce you to answer me, I saw no prospect of being 
relieved from my dangerous situation, and I conclu- 
ded such neglect of my personal safety would justify 
my withdrawing my person. But though I carried 
this resolution into effect, I do not thereby intend to 
deprive you of the advantage which my capture, by 
the rights of war, entitles you to. I purpose return- 
ing to my government, and there to expect an answer 
from you to the following proposition : I will endea- 
vor to procure you a just and reasonable equivalent 



204: REVOHrriONAKY inSTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

in exchange for me, or if that cannot be effected, 1 
will retnrn within your lines on parole, provided you 
will pledge your honor that I shall not be treated in 
any manner different from the officers of the Conti- 
nental array when prisoners of war. This proposi- 
tion will, I hope, be satisfactory, and will leave yon, 
no doubt, that in withdrawing I had no dishonorable 
intention. I am, &c., 

THOMAS BUKKE. 

To this letter no reply was directly made, but in 
a correspondence which ensued between General 
Leslie and General Greene, and the latter officer and 
Governor Burke, a discussion was had on the proprie- 
ty of his withdrawing under the circumstances of the 
case, and his rights as the first civil officer of a State, 
and the commander-in-chief of her militia, when in a 
state of captivit}^ which, had we leisure to pursue it, 
would be found to be among the most interesting 
chapters on public law, in the history of the Revo- 
lution.' Whatever judgment a stern casuistry may 
pronounce upon a breach of parole, in any and all cir- 
cumstances, there can be no doubt that the treatment 
to which he was subjected was a gross national indig- 
nity and wrong, for which atonement w^as due, and 
perhaps should have been exacted ; and that his ap- 
prehensions for his personal safety w^ere not vain or 
idle. Colonel Washington, wdio was at this time a pri- 
soner within the British lines, having been taken at 

' Governor Burke's Letters, MSS. 



BRTTISII INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 205 

tlie battle of Eutaw Springs, and was familiar witli 
the desperate character of the tory refugees on James' 
Island — declared that he would sooner go into a dun- 
geon than take a parole on that island, in its then sit- 
uation. 

Governor Burke returned immediately to the State, 
and resumed the government, but voluntarily retired 
from public life at the next ensuing session of the 
Legislature. Soon afterwards, in a cartel for the ex- 
change of prisoners, between Gen. Greene and the 
British commander, an .equivalent was allowed for 
his ransom, and he was relieved from the delicate and 
painful embarrassment in which he had been involv- 
ed by his captivity.^ 

During his " inability and absence from tlie State,'* 
Alexander Martin, the Speaker of the Senate, assum- 
ed and exercised the powers of Governor, according 
to the provisions of the Constitution, and the govern- 
ment continued in all its functions and usefulness. 

As soon as the seizure and imprisonment of the 
Governor became known, the veteran General Ruth- 
erford, who had returned from his long imprisonment 
in St. Augustine, raised a force in Mecklenburg, 
Rowan and Guilford, and led an expedition against 
the British post, at "Wilmington, and the loyalists who 
were its emissaries, and after chastising the latter in 
divers skirmishes, finally dispersed or drove them 
within the lines of the British garrison, which, be- 
coming informed of the advances made by Greene in 

» Gov. Burke'a letters, MSS. 



"200 REVOLUTIONARY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

tlie re-conquest of South Carolina, and the surrender 
of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, evacuated the town, 
and returned to Charleston.' Tlius was the British 
liag struck, on the 18th of November, 1781, never 
asrain to be unfurled in Korth Carolina. But true to 
the great cause of America, her efforts against the 
common enemy ceased not with his expulsion from 
her ])orders, as they had not been postponed until his 
arrival within tliem. Lnmediately after the retire- 
ment of Lord Cornwallis to Virginia, her western 
people rallied to the call of Gen. Sumter for service 
in South Carolina," and her Continental battallions 
beino; ao^ain recruited under General Sumner, wdth a 
new " aid " of militia, formed a conspicuous part of 
Greene's line of battle at Eutaw, and followed the 
fiag of the Union, until the disappearance of the ene- 
my's sails, off the harbor of Charleston. 

Having had occasion to refer to the Statute Book, 
that fruitful and authentic source of instruction in the 
history of all nations, and especially of free govern- 
ments, in time of peril and revolution, I deem it fit to 
call your attention, in connection with the period of 
dread and doubt through wdiicli we have passed, to 
an act of the Legislature at its first session after the 
proclamation of peace, held in April, 1783, respecting 
those citizens of the State who had espoused the cause 



' For details of this expedition, see " Closing Scenes of the Revolution," 
in the June number of the N. C. University Magazine. 

'Gen. Graham's mem.; see also the act of the Legislature, June 1781, 
exempting those cwmties from levies of continental troops, which bad 
furnished men to General Sumter. 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND ITSI. 207 

of tlie enemy, " In the late unhappy war." It is en- 
titled, " An act of pardon and oblivion ;" and declares 
'' that all and all manner of treasons, misprison of 
treason, felony or misdemeanor, committed or done 
since the fourth day of July, seventeen hundred and 
seventy-six, by any person or persons whatsoever, 
shall be pardoned, released, and put in total obliv- - 
ion," with the exception, 1st, of certain notorious 
bandits and other criminals ; 2d, those who had taken 
commissions, and acted as officers under the British 
government ; and 3d, those who had been named in 
confiscation laws passed during the war — an act of 
grace and magnanimity worthy of the heroic but 
christian and forbearing spirit which had triumphed 
in the struggle just ended. 

I am conscious of so tedious a narrative that I shall 
not abuse your patience by the reflections to v/hich it 
might naturally give rise. Ivly object has been to 
present in outline merely, but in chronological order, 
and natural connection and dependence, some of the 
leading events in the struggle for our common free- 
dom, of which my native State was the theatre, after 
it had become a contest of arms. Although this has 
been done w^ith a prolixity and minuteness of refer- 
ence to time and place, far exceeding the limits of 
good taste in a discourse for the hour, before an audi- 
ence unfamiliar with the localities described, it is, at 
best, I fear, but a meagre and defective presentation 
of the subject. I trust, however, in the retrospect, it 
may not be wholly unprofitable to the researches of 
the student of history. The history of the war in the 



208 REVOLUTION AKY HISTORY OF N. CAROLINA. 

North has been written with far more minuteness 
than in the South. That that of JS^orth Carolina has 
been especially neglected, will be manifest when it i8 
observed that so important an event as the capture 
of her Chief Magistrate by the enemy, is mentioned 
in no professed history of the Kevolution, as far as 
my researches have gone, and is brought to general 
notice for the first time in the recent works of Wheeler 
and Lossing, and in tliem, without any detail or ref- 
erence to the important questions of public law, to 
which in its consequence it gave rise. As the rapid 
course of time hurries us further and further from the 
epoch of the devolution, filling up the intervening 
space with the great events of the two succeeding 
generations, its characters and incidents and places 
are becoming more and more objects of curiosity and 
interest. If I shall have contributed to unfold a leaf 
in a single book of this great epic of the nation, 1 
shall reirard the occasion allowed by the honored ir- 
vitation of your society, as an opportunity for the 
fulfilment of a patriotic duty. 

I cannot, however, omit to remind you, while we 
delight, like the Athenians in the time of Demosthe- 
nes, " to praise our ancestors and tell of their tro- 
phies," that although the scenes which have been im- 
perfectly presented to your view were enacted in a 
far distant part of the country, they, in their day, ex- 
cited sensations which vibrated from Maine to Geor- 
gia ; that every well aimed rifle on the banks of the 
Catawba, the Yadkin, or Cape Fear, and every suc- 
c^sful exploit of Greene, Morgan, Williams, David- 



BRITISH INVASION IN 1780, AND 1781. 209 

8on, Davie and their associates, aided by so mucli in 
tliinning the ranks and overcoming the power of a 
British Commander-in-Chief, who, at that very time 
held his headquarters in the city of ISTew York ;^ that 
the force there opposed to him was a joint force of 
men of the Carolinas, Virginia, Maryland and Dela- 
ware, and that the General who manoenvered and 
marshalled it in its more important and decisive opera- 
tions, with a readiness of resource, a skill and valor, 
nev^er surpassed, was a citizen of Rhode Island. It 
was therefore, a union of effort for a common end ; 
the expulsion of a common enemy, and the establish- 
ment of a common liberty, which, under the provi- 
dence of God, was nobly accomplished. Such is the 
lesson we derive from our fathers. May we improve 
and transmit it to our children, and in ages and gen- 
erations to come, may they assemble in the same fra- 
ternal spirit in which we are met to-night, to mingle 
their sympathies and keep bright the recollection of 
a common glory, citizens of the same free, happy, 
and United States of America. 

' Sir Henry Clinton and afterwards Sir Guy Carleton, 



14 



APPENDIX. 



[A. Page 106.] 

In Marcli, 1771, John Miller, printer of the Lon- 
don Evening Post, was arrested by order of the House 
of Commons, for publications regarded as libellous. 
He was discharged by the Lord Mayor and Aldermen 
of London, on the ground that the order was illegal, 
and the Lord Mayor and Aldermen were, in turn, 
summoned to answer at the bar of the House for con- 
tumacy. Among the latter w^as John Wilkes, the 
author of the famous libel on the King, contained in 
the jSTorth Britain, N'o. 45. 

About the close of the last centurv, John Miller is 
understood to have established himself at Pendleton 
C. H., S. C, and to have commenced the publication 
of " Miller's Weekly Messenger." It was a sheet of 
small size and humble pretensions, and was printed 
upon the pi^ess, w^hicli had been used by General 
Oreene in his southern campaigns. The press still 
in use, was shown to me by the editor of " The Pen- 
dleton Messenger," in December, 1820. 



[B. Page 108.] 
American archives : consisting of a collection of 
authentic records, state papers, debates and letters, 
and other notices of public affairs, the whole forming 

(211) 



212 APPENDIX. 

a Documentary History of the origin and progress of 
tlie IS^orth American colonies ; of the causes and ac- 
complishment of the American Revolution ; and of 
the constitution of government of the United States, 
to the final ratification thereof — In six series. Of 
these, the fourth series from the King's Message of 
March Tth, 1774, to the Declaration of Independence 
by the United States, in 1776, has been published in 
six folio volumes. 

Of the fifth series, from the Declaration of In- 
dependence in 1776, to the definitive Treaty of Peace 
with Great Britian in 1783, the two first volumes 
are in our possession ; the third has been published 
])ut has not vet reached us. When the work will 
probably be completed, we have no information, 
''{'he first series will supply a great desideratum and 
must be anxiously expected in all the older States in 
the Union. 



[C. Page 116.] 
John McDonald, F. R. S., only son of the cele- 
brated Flora McDonald, who so materially assisted 
in the escape of Charles Edward Stuart, in 1746, was 
born in 1759. He passed many years in the service 
of the East India Company, and attained the rank of 
Captain in the corps of engineers on the Bengal es- 
tablishment. On his return home he was appointed 
lieutenant-colonel of the royal clan-alpine regiment, 
and commandant of the royal Edinburg artillery. 
But it is as a writer on military tactics and as a man 



APPENDIX. 213 

of science that Colonel McDonald is especially enti- 
tled to our notice. His productions relative to the 
art of war are chiefly translations from the French, 
and consist of "The Experienced Officer," "Rules 
and Regulations for the Field Exercise, and Manoeu- 
vres of Infantry," " Instructions for the conduct of 
Infantry on actual Service," " Treatise on Telegraph- 
ic Communication, Naval, Military and Political," 
and in 1816, a " Telegraphic Dictionary" extending 
to one hundred and fifty thousand words, phrases and 
sentences. During the latter period of his life, he 
resided at Exeter, where he died, aged seventy-two, 
in 1831. Copied from Maunders' Dictionary of 
Uni/versal Biography. 



[D. Page 121.] 

FROM THE ANNUAL REGISTER FOR 1776 HISTORY OF 

EUROPE, PP. 156-158. 

The necessity under which we have seen Governor 
Martin, obliged to seek refuge on board a ship of war 
in Cape Fear river, did not damp his ardor in the 
public service, nor restrain his attempts to reduce 
the province of North Carolina to obedience. His 
confidence of success was increased, by the know- 
ledge he had, that a squadron of men of war with 
seven regiments, under the conduct of Sir Peter Par- 
ker and Lord Cornwallis, were to depart from Ireland 
on an expedition to the southern provinces in the be- 
ginning of the year, and that North Carolina was 
their first, if not principal object. He also knew 



214: APPENDIX. 

that General Clinton, with a small detachment, was 
on his way from Boston to meet them at Cape Fear. 

The connection he had formed with a body of des- 
perate people, lately considered as rebels to the 
King's government, now equally enemies to the pro- 
yincial establishment, whom we have frequently had 
occasion to take notice of under the name of Regula- 
tors^ as well as with the Highland emigrants, seemed 
to insure the reduction of the insurgents, even inde- 
pendent of the expected force. That colony was 
deemed the weakest in America, except Georgia ; and 
the two parties we have mentioned were numerous, 
active, daring, and the former were at this time, as 
well as the latter, zealously attached to the royal 
cause. The Highlanders were considered as natural- 
ly warlike, and the Regulators, from situation, habits 
and manner of living, to be much bolder, hardier and 
better marksmen, than those who had been bred to 
other courses and in more civilized parts of the coun- 
try. 

The Governor sent several commissions to these 
people for the raising and commanding of regiments, 
and granted another to a Mr. McDonald to act as 
their General. He also sent them a ^proclamation, 
commanding all persons, on their allegiance, to repair 
to the royal standard, which was erected by General 
McDonald about the middle of February. 

Upon the first advice of their assembling at a place 
called Cross Creek, Brigadier General Moore, imme- 
diately marched, at the head of the Provincial regi- 
ment which he commanded, with such militia as he 



APPENDIX. 215 

could suddenly collect, and some pieces of cannon, 
within a few miles of them, and took possession of an 
important post called Kockfish-Bridge, which, as he 
was much inferior in strength, he immediately in- 
trenched and rendered defensible. He had not been 
many days in this position, where he was receiving 
and expecting succours, when General McDonald ap- 
proached, (February 15th,) at the head of his army, 
and sent a letter to Moore, inclosing the Governor's 
proclamation, and recommending to him and his par- 
ty to join the King's standard by a given honr the 
next day, or that he must be nnder the necessity of 
considering them as enemies. 

As Moore knew that the Provincial forces were 
marching from all quarters, he protracted the negoci- 
ation, in hopes that the Tory army, as they called it, 
might have been snrrounded. In his final answer he 
declared, that he and his ofiicers considered themselves 
as engaged in a cause the most glorious and honorable 
in the world, the defence of the liberties of mankind ; 
he reminded the emigrants of the ungrateful return 
they made to the kind reception they met in the co- 
lony ; and the General, with some of his officers, of 
an oath they had taken a little before, and upon 
which they were permitted to come into the country, 
that they only came to see their friends and relations 
without any concern whatever in public affairs. In 
return to the proclamation, he sent them the test pro- 
posed by the Congress, with a proffer, that if they 
subscribed it, and laid down their arms, they should 
be received as friends ; but if they refused to comply 



216 APPENDIX. 

they must expect consequences similar to those which 
they had held out to his people. 

In the mean time, McDonald perceived the danger 
he was in of being enclosed, and abruptly quitting 
his ground, endeavored, with considerable dexterity, 
by forced marches, the unexpected passing of rivers, 
and the greatest celerity of movement, to disengage 
himself. It seems, the great and immediate object in 
view with this party, was to bring Governor Martin, 
with Lord William Campbell, and General Clinton, 
who had by this time joined them, into the interior 
country, which they judged would be a means of 
uniting all the back settlers of the southern colonies 
in the royal cause, of bringing forward the Indians, 
and of encouraging the well-affected to shew them- 
selves in all places. 

The provincial parties were, however, so close in the 
pursuit, ^nd so alert in cutting the country, and seizing 
the passes, that McDonald at length found himself 
under a necessity of engaging a Colonel Caswell, who, 
with about a thousand militia and minute men, had 
taken possession of a place called Moore's Creek 
Bridge, where they had thrown up an intrenchment-. 
The royalists w^ere by all accounts much superior in 
number, having been rated from three thousand to 
one thousand five hundred, which last number Mc- 
Donald, after the action, acknowledged them to be. — 
Tlie emigrants began the attack, (February 27th,) 
with great fury; but McLeod, the second in com- 
mand, and a few more of their bravest officers and 
men being killed at the first onset, they suddenly lost 



APPENDIX. 217 

all spirit, fled with the utmost precipitation, and, a« 
the provincials say, deserted their General, who was 
taken prisoner, as were nearly all their leaders, and 
the rest totally broken and dispersed. 

This victory was a matter of great exultation and 
triumph to the Carolinians. They had shewn that 
their province was not so weak as was imagined ; for 
though their force actually in the engagement were 
not considerable, they had raised ten thousand men 
in about ten days. But what was still more flattering, 
and, perhaps, not of less real importance, they had 
encountered Europeans (who were supposed to hold 
them in the most sovereign contempt, both as men 
and as soldiers) in the field, and defeated them with 
an inferior force. If the zeal of these people could 
have been kept dormant until the arrival of the force 
from Ireland, it seems more than probable that the 
southern colonies would have considerably felt the 
impression of such an insurrection. But now, their 
force and spirits were so entirel}^^ broken, their leaders 
being sent to different prisons, and the rest stripped 
of their arms, and watched with all the eyes of dis- 
trust, that no future effort could be reasonably expec- 
ted from them. Perhaps too great a dependence was 
laid on their power and prowess, while those of the 
opposite side were measured with a scale equally de- 
ceitful. It is, however, extremely difficult to regulate 
or restrain the caprice or violence of those leaders 
who assume authority in such seasons. 



218 APPENDIX. 

[E. Page 122.] 

Lktter from Erioadiep.-Gexeral James Moore, in the Coktinental 

SERVICE, TO THE HoN. CoRXELIUS HaRXETT EsQ., PrESIDEXT OF THE PrO- 

vixciAL CouxciL, North Carolixa.* 

Wilmington, llarch 2d, 1776. 

Sir : On the earliest intelligence that the Tories were collecting and 
embodying at Cross-Creek, which I received on the 9th of February, I 
proceeded to take possession of Rockfish Bridge, within seven miles of 
Cross-Creek, which I considered as an important post, this I effected on 
the 15th with my own Regiment, five pieces of Artillery, and a part of the 
Bladen Militia, but as our numbers were by no means equal to that of the 
Tories, I thought it most advisable to intrench and fortify that pass, and 
wait for a reinforcement. By the 19th I was joined by Col. Lillington with 
one hundred and fifty of the Wilmington Minute Men, Col. Kenon with two 
hundred of the Duplin Militia, and Col. Ashe with about one hundred of the 
Volunteer Independent Rangers, making our numbers, then, in the whole, 
about eleven hundred, and from the best information I was able to procure, 
the Tory Army under command of Gen. McDonald amounted to about four- 
teen or fifteen hundred. On the 20th they marched within four niiles of us, 
and sent in by a flag of Truce, the Governor's Proclamation, a Manifesto and 
Letter from the Gen., copies of which, together with another letter and mj 
answers you have inclosed. I then waited only until Col. Martin and Col. 
Thackston, who I had certain intelligence were on their march, should get 
near enough to cut off their retreat, and determined to avail myself of the 
first favorable opportunity of attacking them, however, contrary to my expec- 
tations, I learnt on the 21st that they had the night before, and that morning, 
crossed the North West River at Campbelton with their whole Army, sunk 
and destroyed all the Boats, and taken their Route the most direct way to 
Negro-head point. I then despatched an express to Col. Caswell, who wa3 
on his march to join us with about eight hundred men, and directed him to 
return and take possession of Corbert's Ferry over Black river, and by eveiy 
means in his power to obstruct, harrass and distress them in their march. At 
the same time I directed Col. Martin and Col. Thackston to take possession 
of Cross- Creek, in order to prevent their return that way. Col. Lillington 
and Col. Ashe I ordered by a forced march to endeavor if possible to rein- 
force Col. Caswell, but if that could not be effected, to take possession of 
Moore's Creek Bridge, whilst I proceeded back with the remainder of our 
Army to cross the North-West at Elizabeth Town, so as either to meet them 
in their way to Corbert's Ferry, or fall in their rear and surround them there. 
On the 2od I crossed the River at Elizabeth Town, where I was compelled 
to wait for a supply of provisions until the 24th at night, having learnt that 

* From the original manuscript. 



APPENDIX. 219 

Col. Caswell was almost entirely without. Just when I was prepared to 
march, I received an express from Col. Caswell, informing, that the Tories 
had raised a flat which had been sunk in Black River about five miles above 
him, and by erecting a Bridge had passed it with their whole Army. I 
then determined as the last expedient, to proceed immediately in Boats 
down the North-West River to DoUerson's Landing about sixty miles, and to 
take possession of Moore's Creek Bridge, about ten miles from thence, at 
the same time aaquainting Col. Caswell of my intentions, and recommend- 
ing to him, to retreat to . Moore's Creek Bridge if possible, but if not, to 
follow on in their rear. The next day by 4 o'clock, we arrived at Dollerson'a 
Landing, but as we could not possibl}' march that night, for want of Horses 
for the Artillery, I despatched an express to Moore's Creek Bridge, to learn 
the situation of affairs there, and was informed that Col. Lillington, who 
had the day before taken his stand at the Bridge, was that afternoon re- 
inforced by Col. Caswell, and that they had raised a small breast-work, and 
destroyed a part of the Bridge. The next morning the 27th, at break of 
dav, an alarm gun was fired, immediately after which, scarce allowing our 
people a moment to prepare, the Tory Army with Capt. McCloud at their 
head, made their attack on Col. Caswell and Col. Lillington, and finding a 
small intrenchment next the Bridge, on our side, empty, concluded that our 
people had abandoned their post, and in the most furious manner advan- 
ced within thirty paces of our Breast-work and Artillery, where they met a 
very proper reception. Capt. McCloud and Capt. Campbell fell within a 
few paces of the Breastwork, the former of whom received upwards of 
twenty balls through his body, and in a very few minutes, their whole 
Army was put to the flight, and most shamefully abandoned their General, 
who was next day taken prisoner. The loss of the enemy in this action, 
from the best accounts we have been able to learn, is about thirty killed and 
wounded, but as numbers of them must have fallen into the Creek, besides 
many more that were carried off, I suppose their loss may be estimated at 
about fifty. We had only two wounded, one of which died this day. Thus 
sir I have the pleasure to inform you, has most happily terminated a very 
dangerous insurrection, and will I trust put an effectual check to Toryism 
in this Country. 

The situation of aflfairs, at this place, made it necessary for me to return 
here, which at the special request of the Committee, I did last night, with 
my Regiment. The large requisitions made by the 3Ien-of-War, who now 
lie just below the Town, gave the inhabitants reason to apprehend every 
thing that could be suffered from their disappointed vengeance. However 
the Committee have most spiritedly determined, rather to suffer the worst 
of human evils, than afibrd them any supplies at all ; and I have no doubt 
we shall be able to prevent them from doing any great injury. 



220 APPENDIX. 

In order to avoid, as much as possible, the heavy expense unavoidablr 
incurred by this expedition, I some time ago directed Col. Martin to dig' 
band all the Troops under his command except one thousand, including the 
Regulars, and with those to secure the persons and Estates of the Insur- 
gents, subject to your further Orders, and then to proceed to this place, 
unless otherwise directed ; however as I do not think the service just now 
requires such a number of men in arms, I shall immediately direct him to 
disband all except the Regulars, and with those to remain in and about 
Cross-Creek until further Orders. 

I take the liberty, Sir, of mentioning, that as the time is nearly arriv- 
ed, at which we are directed to re-enlist our men, of whom I fear we shall 
keep but very few, and as we have reason to expect the Landing of Minis- 
terial Troops in this Country, we shall be left in a very defenceless situa.- 
tion, unless timely prevented by the wisdom of your Councils. The service 
for some time past has required the attendance of all our Officers, and has 
prevented recruiting parties going out, however no time shall be lost as 
soon as they can be spared. 

Mr. Furquhar Campbell, who is suspected of having acted a part unfriend- 
ly to the Liberties of America in the late insurrection, attends you for his 
trial. Inclosed is a Deposition relative thereto, it might also not be amiss 
to ciill on Gen'l McDonald, who I am told will give some information. 

Agreeable to an Order of the last Council for reducing one of the Captains 
of our Regiment, I caused a General Court Martial to be held, who ou com* 
paring the returns of the different Captains, found Captain Beckett to b« 
the youngest, and have accordingly determined that he be reduced. 
I have the Honour to be, Sir, 
Your most Obedient 

And very Humble Servant. 

JA. MOORE. 

P. S. I am at present so much engaged that I cannot possibly send a 
Return of my Regiment, but will forward it in a few days. 

The Ilon'ble the President of the Provincial Council. 

COLONEL CASWELL TO NORTH-CAROLINA C0NGRE.««3. 

Camj) at Long-Creel; February 29, 1776. 
Sir: I have the pleasure to acquaint you that we had an engagement 
with the Tories, at Widow Moore's Creek Bridge, on the 27th current. Our 
army was about one thousand strong, consisting of the Keic Berne Battalion 
of Minute-men, the Militia from Craven, Jolinxton, Dohbs, and Wake, and a 
detachment of the Wilmington Battalion of Minute-men, which we found 
encamped at Maoris Creelc the night before the battle, under the command 
of Colonel LilUngton. The Tories, by common report, were three thousand ; 
ut General McDonald, whom we have a prisoner, says there were about 



APPENDIX. 221 

fifteen or sixteen hundred. He was unwell that day, and not in the battle. 
Captain McLeod, who seemed to be the principal commander, with Captain, 
John Campbell, are among the slain. 

The number killed and mortally wounded, from the best accounts I was 
able to collect, was about thirty ; most of them were shot on passing the 
bridge. Several had fallen into the water, some of whom, I am pretty 
certain, had not risen yesterday evening when I left the camp. Such 
piisoners as we have made, say there were at least fifty of their men missing. 

The Tories were totally put to the rout, and will certainly disperse. 
Colonel Moore arrived at our camp a few hours after the engagement was 
over. His troops came up that evening, and are now encamped on the 
ground where the battle was fought. And Colonel Martin is at or near 
Gross- Creel', with a large body of men. Those, I presume, will be suffi- 
cient effectually to put a stop to any attempt to embody again. I therefore, 
with Colonel Moore^s consent, am returning to NewBerne, with the troops 
under my command, where I hope to receive your orders to dismiss them. 
There I intend carrying the General. If the Council should rise before my 
arrival, be pleased to give order in what manner he shall be disposed of. 
Our officers and men behaved with the spirit and intrepidity becoming free^ 
men, contending for their dearest privileges. 

Richard Caswell. 
To the Hon. Cornelius Harnett, President of thg Provincial Congress of 

North- Carolina. 

DONALD MC DONALD, ESQ., LATELY CREATED BRIGADIER-GENERAL IN THE TOBt" 
AEMT BY GOVERNOUR MARTIN, TO BRIGADIER-GENERAL MOORE. 

Head- Quarters, February 19, 1778. 

Sir : I herewith send the bearer, Donald Morrison, by advice of the Com.= 
missioners appointed by his Excellency Josialb Martin, and in behalf of the 
Army now under my command, to propose terms to you as friends and 
countrymen. I must suppose you unacquainted with the Governor's Proc- 
lamation, commanding all his Majesty's loyal subjects to repair to the 
King's royal standard, else I should have imagined you would, ere this, 
have joined the King's Army, now engaged in his Majesty's service. I 
have therefore thought it proper to intimate to you, that, in case you do not, 
by twelve o'clock to-morrow, join the Royal standard, I must consider you 
as enemies, and take the necessary steps for the support of legal authority. 

I beg leave to remind you of his Majesty's speech to his Parliament, 
wherein he offers to receive the misled with tenderness and mercy, from 
motives of humanity. I again beg of you to accept the proffered clemen- 
cy. I make no doubt but you will show the gentleman sent on this mes- 
BBge every possible civility ; and you may depend, in return, that all your 



222 APPENDIX. 

officers and men which may fall into our hands, shall be treated with an 
equal degree of respect. 

I have the honor to be, in behalf of the Army, sir, your most obedient 
liumble servant, Doxald McDonald. 

To the Commanding Officer at Iioe\fish. 

V. S. His Excellency's Proclamation is herewith enclosed. 

BRIGADIER-GENERAL MOORe's ANSWER. 

CiiJnp at Eoi-l-fisJi, Februar}- 19, 1776. 

Sir : Yours of this day I have received ; in answer to which I must in- 
form 3'ou, that the terms which you are pleased to say, in behalf of the Army 
under your command, are offered to us as friends and countrymen, are 
such as neither my duty or inclinations will permit me to accept, and which 
I must presume you too much of an officer to expect of me. You were 
very right when you supposed me unacquainted vi'ith the Governour's Proc- 
lamation ; but as the terms therein proposed are such as I hold incompat- 
ible with the freedom of American, it can be no rule of conduct for me. 
However, should I not hear further from you before twelve o'clock to- 
morrow, by which time I shall have an opportunity of consulting my 
officers here, and perhaps Colonel Martin, who is in the neighborhood of 
Cross- CWfk, you may expect a more particular answer; mean thne you 
may be assured that the feelings of humanity will induce me to show that 
civility to such of your people as may flill into our hands, as I am desirous 
should be observed towards tliose of ours, who may be unfortunate enough 
to fall into yours. 

1 am, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, 

James Moore. 



brigadier-general MOORE TO BRIGADIER-«ENERAL MC DONALD. 

Camp at Eocl-fish, February 20, 1776. 
Sir : Agreeable to my promise of yesterday, I have consulted the officers 
imder my command, respecting your letter, and am happy in finding them 
unanimous in opinion with me. We consider ourselves engaged in a cause 
the most' glorious and honourable in the world, the defence of the liberties 
of mankind, in support of which we are determined to hazard every thing 
dear and valuable ; and in tenderness to the deluded people under your 
command, permit me, sir, through you, to inform them, before it is too 
late, of the dangerous and destructive precipice on which they stand, and 
to remind them of the ungrateful return they are about to make for their 
favourable reception in this covmtry. If this is not sufficient to recall them 
to the duty which they owe to themselves and their posterity, inform them 
that they are engaged in a cause in which they cannot succeed, as not only 



APPENDIX. 223 

the whole force of this country, but that of our neighboring Provinces, is 
exerting and now actually in motion to suppress them, and which must end 
in their utter destruction. Desirous, however, of avoiding the efluslou of 
human blood, I have thought proper to send you a copy of the Test recom- 
mended by the Continental Congress, which, if they will yet subscribe and 
lay down their arms, by twelve o'clock to-morrow, we are willing to receive 
them as friends and countrymen. Should this ofler be rejected, I shall 
consider them as enemies to the constitutional liberties of Armrka, and 
treat them accordingly. 

I cannot conclude' without reminding you, sir, of the oath which yon 
and some of your officers took at New Berne, on your arrival to this country, 
which I imagine you will find difficult to reconcile to your present conduct 
I have no doubt that the bearer, Captain James Walker, will bo treated 
with proper civilitj and respect in your camp. 

I am, sir, your most obedient and very humble servant, 

J. Moore. 

BRIGADIER-GEKEEAL KC DOXALD TO BRIGADIER-GEXEEAL MOORE. 

Jlead-Qiiarters, February 20, 1776 
Sir : I received j-our fovor by Captain Jame-^ Walker, and observed you 
declared sentiments of revolt, hostility, and rebellion to the King, and to 
what I understand to be the Constitution of this country. If I am mista- 
ken, future consequences must determine ; but while I continue in my pre- 
sent sentiments, I shall consider myself embarked in a cause wliich must, 
in its consequences, extricate this country from anarchy and licentiousness. 
I cannot conceive that the Scots Emigrants, to whom I imagine you allude, can 
be under greater obligations to this couTitry than to that King under whose 
gracious and merciful Government they alone could have been enabled to 
visit this Western region : and I trust, sir, it is in the womb of time to 
say, that they are not that deluded and ungrateful people which you would 
represent them to be. As a solder in his Majesty's service, I must inform 
you, if you are yet to learn, that it is my duty to conquer, if I cannot re- 
claim all those who may be hardy enough to take up arms against the best 
of masters, as of Kings. 

I have the honour to be, in behalf of the Army under my command, sir, 
your most obedient servant, 

Donald McDoxald. 
To James Moore, Esq. 



224 APPENDIX. 

[F. Page 132.] 

Samuel Br^-an, John llamjDtoii, Nicholas White, 
the first a Colonel, the second Lieutenant-Colonel, and 
the last a Captain of this regiment of Tories, returned 
to the forks of the Yadkin, about the time that Major 
Craig evacuated Wilmington in the autumn of 178L 
They were severally arrested and tried for High-Trea- 
son, under the Act of 1T7T, Chap. III., entitled " An 
Act for declaring what Crimes and Practices against 
the State shall be Treason," &c. Judges Spencer and 
Williams presided. The prosecution was conducted 
by the Attorney General, Alfred Moore, and the de- 
fence by Eichard Henderson,' John Penn,'' John 
Kinchen and William R. Davie. 

Public indignation was so highly excited that Gov- 
ernor Burke found it necessary after the trial, to pro- 
tect the prisoners from violence by a military guard, 
Davie, the youngest of the counsel for the defence, 
whose cavalry at Hanging Rock, August 6tli 1780, 
had well nigh annihilated Bryan's regiment, found a 
fitting opportunity on the trial, for tlie display of 
courage in the forum, which won for him a more en- 
viable distinction than the most brilliant of his achieve- 
ments in the field. The Attorney General, in after 
times, an associate Justice of the Supreme Court of 
the United States, was a gentleman of eminent abil- 
itv and attainments. He had rendered efiicient mil- 



* A Judge at the close of the Royal Government, the founder and Gror- 
ernor of Transylvania, and father of the late eminent Chief Justice, Leonard 
Henderson. 

' Signer of the Declaration of Independence. 



APPENDIX. 225 

itary services, and sacrificed a fortune in the defence 
of the country and was deservedly a great public fa- 
vorite. Davie was probably the only advocate in 
attendance upon the court, who could have command- 
ed a patient hearing in such a community, in reply 
to such an opponent, and in behalf of such clients. 
His gallant resistance at Charlotte at the head of one 
hundred men, of the entire army of Lord Cornwallis, 
has been referred to by General Jackson, as one of 
the most brilliant exploits of the Revolutionary War.* 

• More of revolutionary scenes has been described than would otherwise 
hare been necessary, to shew the military school in which General Jack- 
son was educated. In the chieftains, by whom he was surrounded, the 
virtues of patriotism, disinterestedness, caution, enterprise and courage, 
exhibited themselves in the highest perfection. As military leaders, Ma- 
rion was particularly distinguished for enterprise, vigilance and courage ; 
Sumter was his equal in enterprise and courage, but had less circumspec- 
tion ; Davie, who was generally the leader of the Waxhaw settlers, appears 
to have united the virtues of the two. Perhaps in no instance, where the 
chief command was in him, did he fail to accomplish the object he under- 
took. His intelligence was accurate ; his plans judicious, and kept pro- 
foundly secret ; his movements rapid ; his blows sudden as the lightning, 
and his disappearance almost as quick. To pursue him was useless, and it 
was seldom or never attempted. He frequently dared, with a handful of 
men, to face ah army ; and we have seen, by his encounter with the British 
van at Charlotte, that he knew how to strike terror into an enemy he was 
not strong enough to conquer. — KendaVs Life of Jackson, chap. 4, § 1. 

On the 25th of September, 1V80, Lord Cornwallis, having been joined by 
Tarleton's force, resumed his march for Charlotte. The party of Colonel 
Davie, scarcely two hundred strong, was now joined by a thousand badly- 
armed North Carolina militia, commanded by Generals Sumner and David- 
son, and the chief command devolved on Sumner. Being informed of 
Cornwallis's movement, Sumner retired on the direct road to Salisbury, 
leaving Davie with his command, re-inforced by a few volunteers, to ob» 
serve and embarrass the enemy's march. Little could be done by so small 
a force, and about midnight, on the 25th of September, Davie arrived in 
Charlotte. Without the least hope of any other result than to restrain the 
ravages of the enemy by shewing how unsafe it would be to send out small 

15 



226 APPENDIX. 

His defence of Colonel Bryan, in tlie argument made 
to the jury upon this occasion, was an exhibition of 
equal courage and equal ability in a different field. 
He was unsuccessful in both instances, but he retired 
from each with an established reputation. For years 
thereafter, his services were required, in all capital 

parties in that region, he determined to give battle to the British van on 
its entering the village. Making his dispositions with a view to fight and 
retreat, he three times repulsed the charges of Tarleton's dragoons, killing 
twelve non-commissioned oflicers and privates, and wounding Major Hanger, 
who commanded them, with two other officers and many privates, and then 
drew off, with the loss of six killed and thirteen wounded. — lb., chap. 11, § 4. 
Charlotte was taken possession of, after a slight resistance from the mili- 
tia, towards the end of September. At this period Major Hanger com- 
manded the legion. Colonel Tarleton being ill. In the centre of Charlotte 
intersecting the two principal streets, stood a large brick building, the 
upper part being the court-house, and the under part the market-house. 
Behind the shambles a few Americans on horseback had placed themselves. 
The legion was ordered to drive them off; but, upon receiving a fire from 
behind the stalls, this corps fell back. Lord Comwalls rode up in person, 
and made use of these words: — Legion, remember you have eA'ery thing t<) 
lose, but nothing to gain;" alluding, as was supposed, to the former refu- 
tation of this corps. Webster's brigade moved on and drove the Ameri- 
cans from behind the court-house ; the legion then pursued them ; but the 
whole British army was actually kept at bay, for some minutes, by a few 
mounted Americans, not exceeding twenty in number. — Stedman's Ameri- 
ca7i War, vol. ii, p. 216. 

Davie's account of this affair, which we copy from his auto-biographical 
sketches in manuscript, is as follows : — 

" Charlotte, situated on a rising ground, contains about twenty housesi' 
built on two streets which cross each other at right angles, at the intersec- 
tion of which stands the court-house. The left of the town, as the enemy 
advanced, was an open common on the woods, which reached up to the 
gardens of the village. With this small force, viz : one hundred and fifty 
cavalry and mounted infantry, and fourteen volunteers under Major Gra " 
ham, Davie determined to give his Lordship a foretaste of what he migh 
expect in North Carolina. For this purpose he dismounted one company, 
and posted it under the court-house where the men were covered breast 
high by a stone wall. Two other companies were advanced about eighty 



APPENDIX. 227 

cases, and as a criminal lawyer he had no rival in 
the State, 

ISTotwithstanding the torrent of prejudices which 
overwhelmed the prisoners, we have satisfactory evi- 
dence, that in all the relations of private life, they 
werc estimable men. Colonel Bryan especially was 

yardSj and posted behind some houses and in gardens on each side of the 
street. While this disposition was making, the Legion was forming at the 
distance of three hundred yards, with a front to fill the street, and the light 
infantry on their flanks. On sounding the charge the cavalry advanced at 
fall gallop within sixty yards of the court-house, where they received the 
American fire, and retreated with great precipitation. 

As the infantry continued to advance, notwithstanding the fire of our 
advanced companies, who were too few to keep them in check, it became ne- 
'Cessary to withdraw them from the cross-street, and form them in line with 
the troops under the court-house. The flanks were still engaged with the 
infantry, but the centre were directed to reserve their fire for the cavalry, 
who rallied on their former ground and returned to the charge. They 
were again well received by the militia and galloped ofi" in great confusion, 
in presence of the whole British army. As the British infantry were now 
beginning to turn Coi. Davie's right flank, these companies were drawn otF 
in good order, successively covering each other, and formed at the end of 
the street about one hvradred yards from the court-house, under a galling 
fire from the British light-infantry, who had advanced under cover of the 
ibouses and gardens. The British cavalry again appeared, charging in col- 
"umn by the court-house, but upon receiving a fire, which had been reserv- 
ed for them, they again scampered ofi; Lord Cornwallis, in his vexation, 
at the repeated miscarriage of his cavalry, openly abused their cowardice, 
^he Legion, reinforced by the infantry, pressed forward on our flanks, and 
the ground was no longer tenable Ijy this handfull of brave men. 

A retreat was ordered on the Salisbury road, and the enemy followed 
■with great caution and respect for some miles, when they ventured to 
<;harge the rear guards. The guards were of course put to flight, but on 
receiving the fire of a single company, they retreated. Our loss consisted 
of Lieutenant Lock and four privates killed, and Major Graham and five 
privates wounded. The British stated their loss at twelve non-commis- 
sioned otficers and privates and Major Hanger, Captains Campbell and 
McDonald and thirty privates wounded. 

This action, although it subjects Colonel Davie to the charge of temerity, 



228 APPENDIX. 

esteemed a man of indomitable courage, of candour 
and sincerity, remarkably lionest in his dealings, and 
friendly in his disposition. *' He refused to take the 
oath of allegiance to the State, from principle, think- 
ing himself bound, having heretofore sworn allegiance 
to George the Third, King of England." It will be 
perceived that on the trial, scorning all concealment, 
he admitted, his, " uniform and active attachment to 
the interest of his Britanic Majesty, whom he consid- 
ered his liege sovereign, and averred that he knew 
no protection from, nor ever acknowledged any alle- 
giance to the State of North Carolina. 

Hampton was a native of the county of Granville, 
and removed to Kowan in 1774. He had always main- 
tained a fair character, and was after his conviction, 
the object of deep sympathy, among many of the 
most respectable men in both counties. 

Of Nicholas White less is known, than of his su- 
perior officers, and what is known, is less favorable, 
especially in relation to kindliness of disposition. 

They were all convicted, had sentence of death, 

only to be excused by the event, and a zeal which we are always ready to 
applaud, furnishes a striking instance of the bravery and importance of 
the American militia. Few instances can be shewn, where any troops who 
in one action, changed their position twice in good order, although pressed 
by superior force, and charged three times by cavalry, thrice their own 
number, unsupported, in presence of an enemy's whole army, and finally 
retreating in perfect order. 

The British Legion reproached with their shameful retreat, before so 
small detachment of militia excused themselves by sajnng that the confi- 
dence with which the Americans behaved induced them to apprehend and 
ambuscade. Surely no manoeuvre of this kind could be seriously apprehend- 
ed in an open village and at mid-day." 



APPENDIX. 229 

were pardoned and subsequently exchanged for Amer- 
ican officers of equal rank, wlio were at the time con- 
fined within the British lines. Governor Burke pro- 
posed to exchange Colonel Bryan, for Colonel Wil- 
liam Washington, who was made prisoner at Eutaw, 
on the 8th September, 1Y81, but whether the over- 
ture was accepted, we have not been able to ascertain. 
The following statement by the Judges of the facts, 
proved upon the trial : — the argument of the counsel 
to the court, upon the questions of law, which arose 
in the case; and the letter of Governor Burke to 
General Greene, in relation to the pardon and ex- 
change of the prisoners, will serve to illustrate much 
more clearly, than any abridgement or historical sum- 
mary, which we could present, the military, judicial, 
and executive annals to which they relate. They are 
therefore exhibited literally and without diminution. 

Judiciary Report op the Judges relative to the Prisoners condemned 

AT Salisbury. 

April 5th, 1782. 

At Salisbury Superior Court, March Term, 1782, Samuel Bryant, John 
Hampton and Nicholas White were indicted, tried and found Guilty of High- 
Treason, and accordingly were condemned. 

The several Charges laid in the several Bills of Indictment were the 
•same, to- wit: 

The Taking a Commission from the King of Great Britain. 

The Levying War against this State, and the Government thereof. 

The Aiding and Assisting the Enemy, by joining their Army, and by 
enlisting and procuring others to enlist for that Purpose. 

The forming and being concerned in forming a Combination, Plot and 
Conspiracy for betraying this State into the Hands and Power of a foreign 
Enemy, to wit : the King of Great Britain. 

And the giving Intelligence to the Enemies of this State for that Purpose. 

From the Evidence adduced on the Part of the State, it appeared to the 
Court, that in the Summer of the year 1780, a Body of Men were collected 



230 APPENDIX. 

in the County of Rowan, with an avowed Design of reducing the State of 
North Carolina to the Obedience and Domination of the King of Great 
Britain, that the said Body of Men were headed by the said Samuel Bryant, 
whom they called their Colonel, that he acted as such, that the said Men 
were chiefly armed, and marched under the command of the said Samuel 
Bryant, in Warlike Array through a part of the County of Rowan, through 
the Counties of Montgomery and Richmond to the Ford of the Grassy 
Islands on Pedee River, that tlie Number of the said Body of Men was in- 
creased on their March to that Place, to about six or seven Hundred. That 
on their March they took a number of Prisoners, good and faithful Citizens 
and subjects of this State, whom they hid and confined by the Orders of 
the said Samuel Bryant, put them under Guard and marched with them, 
that they crossed the Pedee at the said Ford, and were joined by about 25 
British Dragoons belonging to the 71st Regiment, about 4 miles from An- 
son Court House then occupied as a British Post, by a Party of the same 
Regiment, that from thence the said Samuel Bryant corresponded with, 
and gave Intelligence to a Major McArthur, then at the said Court House, 
and commanding such Part of the said Regiment as were posted there and 
at the Cheraws. That the said Major McArthur and the said Bryant had 
an Interview at the said Court House, near to which the said Major McAr- 
thur reviewed the said Bryant's Men, whom the said Bryant had previously 
drawn up in a Hollow Square for that Purpose, that the said Major McAr- 
thur highly approved of them, and the Conduct of the said Brj^ant, that a 
Council was then Called, composed of the British and Bryant's Officers. 
That the said Bryant was by the said British, as well as the said Men under 
his Command, called and esteemed a Colonel, and the said Hampton a 
Lieut. Colonel, that the said Bryant and Hampton respectively gave mili- 
tary Orders as such, which were obeyed by the Men under their Command, 
that from thence the said Bryant, after several Manoeuvres and Counter- 
Marches in the County of Anson, marched his Men to Thompson's Creek, 
where he left them under the Command of the abovesaid John Hampton, 
and went to Camden, then a Post in Possession of the British, and to which 
Place the said Bryant procured such of his Prisoners to be conveyed, 
as he bad not previously parolled, or iulisted into his Corjys, where such 
Prisoners were confined in the British Provos, that two of the said Prison- 
ers had been previously inlisted into the said Corps. That after the Battle 
of the Hanging-Rock, where it was said the said Bryant and his Corps were 
engaged, and where he lost a considerable Part of his Men, he marched 
about two hundred and fifty of them into Camden. It did not appear in Ev- 
idence to the Court, that the said Bryant had quitted the British service, 
till about the time of the Evacuation of Wilmington,' "''"' ' 

John Hampton above mentioned, when first sent for to the said Bryant's 
Camp, refused to go, saying that he thought he could or would not go. 



} 



APPENDIX. 231 

But on the second or third application went thither and took upon him the 
Command of a Lieut. Colonel, marched with the said Corps, sat in Council 
acted as a member thereof, and in the absence of the said Bryant, gave 
Orders which the Men of the said Corps received and obeyed, as from their 
Officer authorized to command them, and while encamped at Thompson's 
Creek aforesaid, administered an Oath of Allegiance to one Man, to be loyal 
and faithful to the British King and Government, and at all such times 
when he had the Command of the said Corps, kept his Prisoners tied and 
confined as the said Bryant had done. 

Nicholas White above mentioned, bore the title of Captain and led into 
the said Bryant's Camp an Hundred Men or upwards, who composed a part 
of the said Corps, and over whom he continued as their Captain, and when it 
came by Rotation to his time to take the charge of the Prisoners, he seemed 
to be more vigorous than any of the other Officers of that Corps, always 
tying the Prisoners closer, using more menacing language to them, and 
discovering a remarkable activity and alertness in the service he was then 
engaged in. 

The private Moral Characters of these Men, especially Bryant and 
^ampton, appeared as follows, that they were generally considered as very 
honest Men, nor did it appear to the Court that they had on their March 
through a considerable Part of this State, or elsewhere, committed any 
violences more than any other Army v^ould have done in similar Circum- 
stances, in supplying themselves with Arms, Ammunition, Provisions, 
Horses, &c., there being no Proof of their having been guilty of any Mur- 
ders, House-burning, or Plundering, except as above mentioned for the 
support of their Army. 

The above, to the best of our Recollection, is a true state of the Evidence, 
^ far as we conceived it i*elated to the Trial of the above mentioned Pris- 
oners. 

Certified under our Hands the 5th Day of April, 1782. 
V SAM'L SPENCER. 

^ ' JNO. WILLIAMS. 

1 — 

State ) 



Samuel Bryan ) 



The prisoner was brought to the Bar and charged with every species of 
High-Treason described by the Act of Assembly. 

The attorney for the Stiite then introduced a certain Obadiah Smith t o 
prove his residing in the State since the passing of the Treason Law in 1777. 

Questioned hij the Attorney General: — Do you not know that Colonel 
Bryan, the prisoner at the Bar, resided within the State of North Carolina 
since the year 177G. 



232 APPENDIX. 

Answered: — I do not know that he has been a Residenter since thai 
time. 

Attorney General : — Did you not leam in Conversation with the prisoner 
that he had followed his Trade in the winter before he raised his Regiment 
within the State. 

An^iwei'ed : — He said he had made some Saddles while he was secreted, and 
that though incog, he had seen several gentlemen as they passed his plant- 
ation, and that we should not complain. He had suffered these and many 
other hardships for his King. 

The Attorney General then introduced Colonel Adam Alexander, Mr. 
Sloan and many others to prove the overt acts charged in the Bill of In- 
dictment; and "afterward Matthew Lock, Esquire, to prove his allegiance. *. 

Attorney General: — Did not Colonel Bryan take the Oath of allegiance^ 
before you. \ 

Answered : — I administered an oath to him comprehending allegiance to i 
the country. ^ 

Questioned, By tlie council for the prisoner : — At what time did you ad* 
minister this oath? 

Answered : — At the time of the Committee of safety which was in tke 
year 1776. 

Questioned : — Did you not compose the oath yourself? 

Answered: — I did. 

The Attorney General then observed that the several overt acts of Trea- 
son laid in the Bill of Indictment were legally established and then read 
the case of Stephana Farrara de Gama, and Emmanuel Lewis Tinana, Port- 
uguese born, who though aliens were indicted and attainted of High-Treason 
for compassing the Death of Queen Elizabeth. 

The Council for the prisoner then proceeding to his defence, admitted 
the facts of a uniform and active attachment to the Interest of his Britanick 
Majesty whom the prisoner considered as his leige Sovereign, but averred 
that he knew no protection from nor ever acknowledged any allegiance to 
the State of North Carolina. 

They considered the Attorney General's Introduction of the above cases 
as an admission that the prisoner stood on the footing of an alien, that he 
waived the Testimony of Mr. Lock which was indeed insufficient, and rest- 
ed on the Testimony of Mr. Smith, the first witness, to support the Indict- 
ment — on which the Council took the following Distinctions : 

1st. That the case of the Portuguese would not apply, they publickly 
claimed and enjoyed the protection of the Laws, and therefore owed a lo- 
cal or temporary allegiance ; but the prisoner at the Bar while within the 
State remained with that Degree of Secrecy necessary to ensure the suc- 
cess of a Military Enterprize, was unknown to our Laws, and could not of- 
fend as a Citizen. 



APPENDIX. 233 

2d. That the Testimony of Mr. Smith does not prove a residing, within 
the act of Assembly. 

8d. Urged the case of Reginald Tucker as in point, concluding that where 
the State owed no protection to the prisoner nor the prisoner allegiance to 
the State, the prisoner could not be a Traitor. 

A true state of the case. 

RICHARD HENDERSON, 
J. DUNN, 
\ JOHN KINCHEN, 

WILLIAM R. DAVIE. 

[kTTEK to GEX. green, APRIL 9, 1782, RELATIVE TO BRYANT AND OTHERS" 

HillshorougTi April 9th, 1782. 

Dr Sir : Since my letter of the 28th March last I have got notice of the 
["rial of Samuel Bryant, John Hampton and Nicholas White for High-Trea- 
^fiip, at the Superior court for the district of Salisbury. The Testimony as 
reported to me by the Judges brings them within the distinction which I 
lai(J down in that letter relatively to such as I should pardon and hold 
reaAy for exchange as prisoners of war, that is to say, such as should ap- 
pear^to me guilty of no offence but bearing arms with the Enemy, and 
actip'g agreeably to the character of Soldiers. I have reprieved them until 
the 10th of May next in order to give time for learning whether the Ene- 
mjrwill admit them as their officers in the rank they pretend to and in 
whti^ it is proved they acted, if you receive such assurances as will be sat- 
isfactory to you, and will satisfy this State that our officers, now prisoners 
of eqjjial rank will be given in Exchange for them, they shall be pardoned 
and held as prisoners of war, but in' that case, an order must Immediately 
lafff^Q for the removing their families within the British lines. This is a 
necessary but severe consequence of their being admitted on the footing of 
pn^>ners of war, and I assure you, sir, that no part of my duty, gives me 
moife sensible pain in the Execution than this, because I foresee it must in- 
volve wretched mothers and helpless infants in cruel want and distres.e> 
whicW affects me the more, as I saw the miserable condition of the refugees 
on Jakes' Island. 

Saiftuel Bryant was Col., John Hampton, L, Col., and Nichs. White, 
Captain^ 

> 

' • [G. Page 137.] 

lossing in liis excellent Pictorial Field Book of the 
Revolution, a work wliicli must soon be regarded as 



'2o\: . APPENDIX. 

an indispensable portion of every liistorical library, 
states that Gov\ Martin " was witb Cornwallis in 
Virginia as late as March 1781, when impaired 
health caused him to leave. lie went to Xew-York, 
j>pent a part of the summer at Hockaway, on LongJ 
Island, and then sailed for England. He died in 
London in July 1786." 

Lossing is generally remarkably accurate in tl 
statement of dates, as well as facts, but is obvious! 
erroneous in this instance. Earl Cornwallis did m 
leave Wilmington until about the end of April, 
the 14th of May he crossed the Meherrin river in 
march towards the ^Nottaway and of course took Mai 
leave of Xorth Carolina about the middle of4he 
month. See Tarleton's history of the campaigife of 
1780-'81, pp. 285— 90. " > 

A preceding note ventures the suggestion hi a 
doubt whether Gov. Martin accompanied the Estfl at 
all upon the departure of the latter from Wilmington. 
If at the time Gov. Burke was ordered into close ^n- 
iinement, Gov. Martin was in Wilmington, with, a 
competent force to maintain the royal authority, jrfea- 
sons may have existed, which it was not at the time 
considered politic to disclose, for considering the 
former a prisoner of State. C 

s 

/ 

[II. Page 143.] / 

The following editorial article is copied from " Ilie 
South Carolina and x\merican General Gazette," 



appendix:. 335 ' 

published at Cliarleston on the 9th of Febriiarv, 
1776/ 



*' A North Carolina correspondent, who signs ]nm?io\f P7iUo-Gune 'hi- 
irms us 'that the young ladies, of the best families in Mecklenburg coui:- 
t}\ in North Carolina, have entered into a voluntary association that they 
not receive the addresses of any young gentlemen of that place, ex- 
c^t the brave volunteers, who cheerfully served in the expedition to Soutli 
)lina, and assii^ed in subduing the Scovelite insurgents. The ladies 
beiiij of opinion, that such persons as lazily stay basking at home, when 
the miportant calls of their country demand their militaiy service abroad* 
rau^ certainly be destitute of that nobleness of sentiment, that brave, man- 
ly spirit, which qualify the gentleman to be the defender and guardian of 
thekfair sex.' Our correspondent adds, ' This is the substance of the asso- 
ciatum, and we hear that the ladies in the adjacent county of Rowan, have 
desirrfd a similar association to be drawn up, and prepared immediately for 
signina" 

Thaathe association was formed in Rowan is shown by the following 
entries? ^he last on the record now before us, of the resolves of the commit- 
tee at Salisbury, Rowan county, North Carolina.' 

' MayiSth, 1776. A letter from a number of 3'^oung ladies in the county, 
directe»ito the chairman, requesting the approbation of the committee to a 
uumbft^^of resolutions enclosed, entered into and signed by the same 
young lajiies, being read. 

Eesolved, That this committee present their cordial thanks to the said 
young lii^ies for so spirited a performance ; look upon these resolutions to 
oe sensible and polite, that they merit the honor and are worthy the imiia- 
tion o£-<every young lady in America. 

Tha committee adjourned till committee in course. 

t SAMUEL YOUNG, Ch'o. 

ARPE, Sec'i/. 
ly interesting sequel to this Asssociation of 
MecklAiburg Maidens is exhibited in the Journal of 
John uraham, brother ef the late General Joseph 
(xrahaifL He was an eminent member of the medi- 
cal pr6fession, and a most estemable and useful citi- 
zen. ■ nie died about 1812, in South Carolina, where 

' SeeJPVheeler's Historical Sketches, vol. ii, p. 7-57. 



2'56 APPENDIX. \ 

] 

he settled early in life. T regret that the MSS. is not 
at present at my command, and that I can refer to it 
only from memory. ^ 

Among the ten thousand men who rushed fro]in 
every portion of the State to defend our maritii^e 
frontier, towards the close of February, 1776, wa^a 
company formed entirely of the students of Queefn's 
College, the Southern cradle of Liberty. The prsici- 
ples of liberty involved in the Mecklenburg Resonres, 
were the common topics of discussion, in the halls of 
this institution previous to their final adoption/ in 
Mav of the precedino^ vear. Tlie Association} was 
probably formed in January 1776, and before tire end 
of the following month, these chivalric youthsjwere 
on the march for the battle field. Tlie proudest era 
of the most heroic nation of ancient or modem 
times, can exhibit no more inspiring examples^f V^- 
triotism, than these scintillations of history disclose 
on the part of the sires, the sons, and the daWhters 
of Mecklenburg. ^ 

Tlie victory at Moore's Creek, intelligence of wich 
met them at Campbell ton, rendered their carlfcaign 
and their vacation a short one. They re^rned 
promptly to the discharge of their collegiaterduties. 
The first General Assembly which convened under 
the constitution in 1777, obliterated all eifsigns of 
royalty. Queen's College was transformed inm Liber- 
ty Ilall, and young Graham took his Bachel^'s de- 
g]'ee, near the close of the following year. For^ copy 
of his diploma, see Foote's Historical Sketchej^ y>age 



517. 




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